


A Place to Go

by aleia



Series: Begin Again [9]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder, Canon-Typical Violence, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Past Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-06-05 01:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15159185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleia/pseuds/aleia
Summary: I swear the entire first draft was done and finished over a month ago. Any similarities to real events are total coincidence. Well, real NHL events anyway.This is set about a year after the wedding. (So after Tater has been with the Aces for a full year.)Thanks to Faith Mars for the extra read.Also! Thanks to the fic that is posted on another platform, I was able to commissionOmgpiepleaseto do art work for this series. Two are in this story! Find him ontumbler here.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I swear the entire first draft was done and finished over a month ago. Any similarities to real events are total coincidence. Well, real NHL events anyway.
> 
> This is set about a year after the wedding. (So after Tater has been with the Aces for a full year.)
> 
> Thanks to Faith Mars for the extra read.
> 
> Also! Thanks to the fic that is posted on another platform, I was able to commission [Omgpieplease](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SceneryTurnedWicked/pseuds/Omgpieplease) to do art work for this series. Two are in this story! Find him on [tumbler here](https://omgpieplease.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art).

**Jack**

Jack stares at his text thread with Kent for over five minutes before clicking on the window to type. After that, he types and deletes and types again five times before he gives up and decides he can’t have this conversation over text. It’s been over three years since he and Kent started talking again. This should be easier, and if he wanted to talk to Kent about literally anything else, it would be. But he can’t talk to anyone except Kent about this. Well, okay, he could. He probably should. He should talk to Bitty. He should talk to his Dad. He most definitely should be talking to his agent before anyone else. But he doesn’t want to get Bitty’s hopes up for no reason. And he doesn’t want to tell anyone else what he wants if there’s no chance of it working out anyway.

 **Jack:** Are you free to Skype sometime when it’s just you?  
**Kenny:** As in without even my husband around?  
**Jack:** Yes? But you know if after we talk you really want to tell him, I’m not going to get mad.  
**Kenny:** I can do now if you want? He’s with his trainer. We decided to follow yours and Bitty’s example and train apart in the off-season. Partially bc you taught him to train like you and it’s boring as fuck.  
**Jack:** Now’s good.

“Okay,” Kent says when the call connects. “What’s wrong? You didn’t even try to chirp me back.”

“You have to promise not to tell anyone,” Jack’s not sure who would be the angriest at him for this. Probably his agent. Everyone else will understand when he explains.

“Including my husband and your fiancé?”

“Just for now.”

“Okay,” Kent says. “But I reserve the right to tell either of them or your parents if it’s something you shouldn’t be making me promise not to tell them.”

“Fair,” Jack says. He’s not anywhere near where he was when he was seventeen, but Kent knows he’s been depressed. Kent knows how hard this year has been. They both made unpopular choices. Kent’s team supported him. Kent’s team supported Jack more than the Falconers.

“Zimms. You’re kind of scaring me,” Kent says when Jack doesn’t say anything right away.

“Sorry. It’s…” Jack sighs and looks away from the screen for a few seconds. “The Falconers don’t really want me anymore. I haven’t re-signed because they didn’t even make an offer.”

“What?” Kent says. “You literally won the cup last year.”

“Yeah,” Jack says. “And then Tater left. And Marty and Thirdy retired. And George got a better offer and left. And my first year as Captain, we didn’t even make it past the first round of playoffs. And now we have a new coach and new management. I missed a few games because they were mad I wouldn’t go to the White House and then I hurt my leg. They don’t think I’ve been private enough about my personal life. I think they would’ve tried to trade me before the deadline if I hadn’t been injured. Hell, they might’ve tried to trade me injured, and I just don’t know.”

“That’s bullshit,” Kent says. He already knew the first two things, but Jack’s avoided telling him how bad it was because he didn’t want to admit to Bitty how bad it was. Of course, Bitty knows anyway because he can’t hide that he doesn’t have a contract.

“My agent says I should’ve pushed for a contract extension last year,” Jack says.

“But too much happened, and I stole Alexei.”

“I’m not mad about that,” Jack looks at the screen and gives him a small smile.

“They’re idiots. They can’t want you to sign somewhere else. Your contract’s up. Everyone expects them to keep you. They should be jumping to sign you before someone else does. By the first everyone will be freaking out about you being a free agent.”

“I had a bad season, a million rumors that I’m gay, and everyone still thinks I might overdose again.”

“Zimms, you’re going to get a lot of offers. You might not get as good of an offer as you would’ve gotten from the Falcs a year ago. But then you’d be stuck with them or stuck asking for a trade that wouldn’t be in your control. You can choose again now. I know people. Bob knows people. Swoops has really good connections. He knows exactly which teams are lying about not being homophobic because of the You Can Play stuff he does.”

“About that,” Jack says. “I got a lot of offers last time, but the Aces wasn’t one. My agent has had a few teams reach out, but not the Aces.” 

“Are you serious? You told me not to talk to them. I didn’t. It’s only been a few days since the playoffs ended. Everyone still assumes you’re going to sign with the Falcs,” Kent says. Jack can see that he’s not quite understanding yet. Or more likely, he’s afraid to.

“And they don’t make any offers without you talking to them? Seriously Kenny?”

Kent sighs and frowns.

“Okay. Fair. But things were different then. If I went to Samwell and then said nothing to anyone about it—well, they’re not stupid, okay? Management literally made me go to therapy for six months after the first time I went to Samwell. If I’d gone and then told them it was good idea, they might’ve made an offer. As it was…well, they weren’t happy about it, but I didn’t technically break any rules, so I got away with it.”

“And what about now?” Jack asks.

“Seriously?” Kent smiles like Jack just gave him everything he ever wanted. Well, maybe just the one thing he hasn’t already gotten.

“Bitty hates the cold. And he got another job offer for a cooking show. It’s in Vegas, and they timed the offer pretty well, so they probably know just enough about hockey to think if I go anywhere for him, now’s the time. He’s turned down so many offers. And it’s not the same here. I just want to play hockey and be with Bittle at the same time,” Jack smiles at him before adding, “And well, I miss playing with Tater.”

“You miss playing with Tater? Seriously Zimms? Don’t be a jackass.”

“Well, I _also_ miss playing with Tater,” Jack says. “And the Aces don’t care that you’re both gay even if you tricked them into signing him and then got married right after. Though they might not want to be the gay team if I come out.”

“We already have three gay players and one who has decided that he doesn’t want a label. It’s Vegas. I think they’ve realized how much money gay people have. Vegas really cares about hockey now. Or at least they care that Britney has been coming to more games. Yeah, we take some shit, but you’re already getting that shit anyway. All management cares about is that we’re selling lots of shit and winning games. They don’t care if we’re selling tickets just because people show up trying to meet whatever celebrity comes to the game to get their gay ally points. If I’d known when I was fourteen that if I came out, Britney Spears would come to games to support me, I would’ve come out right then.”

Jack laughs. He wants to say Kent wouldn’t have done that. But Kent tried to convince him to tell his dad they needed Britney Spears tickets to impress girls once, so it’s possible.

“You and Tater are the only ones who are out. Will it actually help if you talk to them? That’s not really a thing people do. That’s exactly the opposite of how you got them to sign Tater.”

“Well, first, you know we fooled exactly no one. There’s no way they’d think that he’d take a short contract under any other circumstances. They signed Tater because he’s good. They called Swoops and asked his opinion in a roundabout way because they wanted the deal they were getting Alexei Mashkov for, but wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to be a disaster. I’m still not sure how I feel about having my team management be the people who ended up grilling my husband the most about marrying me, but management knew exactly what we were doing.”

Jack doesn’t bother pointing out that the Aces are the ones who have millions of dollars tied up in Kent’s marriage working out.

“You were at the wedding. You were _in_ the wedding,” Kent continues. “I think they know we’re okay now. I’m not even sure I’ll have to talk to them for them to call you, but if I do it’s just to tell them it’ll be okay. They know we still play well together. We did that charity game last summer and proved it. We have the cap space because Reaper retired. I’m sure you’ve read all the things about how I should demand more money, but I never did, and you know that was to be sure there was space for you so shut up. They would be stupid not to call you. At worst, they’ll try to offer you a short contract, too, but you can probably counter it. It’s not like they’re doing it in case we get divorced. And they haven’t signed Teller yet, so maybe if you come, they’ll decide it’s not worth having him around if he’s just pissing off the entire first line and half the second line. He can go play for the fucking Schooners.”

“You really think so?”

“Has your new management really convinced you that after one bad season no one will want you? That’s ridiculous. The second you tell me it’s okay, I will give them a heads up that yes, both Tater and I want them to sign you. And honestly? When Alex makes statements about how he picks players for their skill and then supports them while they’re here because he wants them to succeed? He means that. Jeff retired because as much as they like him, and they know I want him here, they couldn’t logically sign him again. You’re good. They want to win. If your agent calls them, and they know they’re not going to have to pay what you’re really fucking worth? They might just tell me this is my job, and I better make it work.”

“Kenny,” Jack says. “I wouldn’t come if you didn’t want me to.”

“I know. But that’s irrelevant because you know I want you here. I’ll let them figure out that they want to put us back on the same line on their own. And we’ll be the queer team that wins the Stanley Cup and all the homophobes will be mad. It’ll be perfect.”

Jack laughs. Everything from the last year hurts a little less.

“I think you’re jumping ahead a little there,” he says.

“I told Tater exactly what year you would both win the Cup with the Falconers.”

“You did not.”

“I did. And everything went wrong for us that year, so thanks for doing that. He wasn’t going to move here until you won. Neither were you. It was stupid, but you were both determined to win without me first.”

“Not true. You were already engaged when he won. He was miserable without you all season. He would’ve left either way.”

“Okay, but I’m right about you.”

“And if I trade and we both stay there, you’ll always have one more win than both of us.”

“Is that okay with you?” Kent asks.

Jack thinks for a second before he nods.

“Yeah. I think it is.”

“And you know it’s going to take at least a year before there’s even an A on your jersey. I love you, and if they let me, I’ll share the C with you, but I know my coaches. They are serious about wanting a guy to fully settle in on the team first.”

“Someone told me that it might do me good to not be a captain for once.”

***

Jack knows he should just wait for Bitty instead of asking him to come home from work early. He doesn’t like to act like his job is more important than Bittle’s, even if Bitty says it’s okay. It’s just that now that he’s decided, Jack wants to talk to Bitty about it _right now_. Kenny must be able to tell, because he stays on the Skype call and talks with Jack about contracts and what Jack wants even though Jack is really going to listen to his dad and his agent before Kenny. He lets Kenny tell him about the Las Vegas suburb where most of the team lives and how it’s a lot less crazy than the strip and Jack will like it.

Bitty gets home from work only a few minutes before Tater gets home and gives Kenny an excuse to hang up without catching up with Bitty.

“Was he rushing off the phone because of us or them?” Bitty asks after they end the call.

“He knows I want to talk to you about something,” Jack says. “It’s not bad. I just…I needed to run it by him first. I’m sorry.”

“Oh honey, I’m never going to be mad if you need to talk to someone before me. That’s kind of why it’s important to have friends.”

“I know. It’s just kind of a big thing.”

“It’s about your contract,” Bitty says. He’s let Jack avoid the topic, but he’s not stupid.

“I still have to talk to my dad and then everyone,” Jack says.

“Your dad will say to do what makes you happy even if it’s not what people will think is best for your career.”

Jack nods.

“I’m going to tell my agent to call the Aces. Kenny says they didn’t offer because we weren’t friends, and they weren’t sure they wouldn’t be making a disaster for him. Now, he thinks they’ll want us back together. And you could do that show. He says I can tell them I don’t want to hide you from the beginning, and they’ll be supportive. He says his GM actually means what he says about signing the best players for the team and then supporting them because they’ll do better if they’re happy.”

“Is this really what you want? I don’t want you to do it just so I can take this job. You know I told them no.”

“And they told you that they want you and want you to think about it for a couple more weeks,” Jack says. “Your career matters, too, and I know you want it.”

“ _And_ ,” Jack says before Bitty can argue. “I think it’s a good idea. I just want to be with you and play hockey. Kenny’s there, and he’s been so happy this year even with all the shit he’s had to deal with.”

Bitty nods. Jack can tell he’s thinking of how to say something.

“They all love him,” Bitty says. “And they were mostly nice at the wedding.”

“But some of them still don’t like me,” Jack fills in. “Kenny told them they had to be nice at the wedding.”

“I don’t want you to have a hard time because you want me to take this job,” Bitty says.

“You know Holster kind of hated me the first two years at Samwell, right?” Jack says.

“That was kind of different.”

“I know,” Jack says. “But Kenny thinks it’ll be okay. Half of the team didn’t like Tater and now they all love him. They’re just protective. He’s sure they’ll give me a chance. I know he’s biased, but I guess I don’t think he’d let me go if he really thought they’d be awful.”

Bitty nods.

“If it’s what you want, let’s do it.”

“You’re going to call him and make him explain why he thinks all of them will eventually like me, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”


	2. Chapter 2

**[Aces LGBT-Friendly chat]**

**Mills:** WTF? Parse, did you know about this?  
**Parse:** Do you have a twitter alert set up or something? I was just about to call you.  
**Reaper:** Mills, what are you talking about?  
**Cupid:** Zimmermann just signed. WITH US.  
**Matty:** SIX YEARS  
**Reaper:** Kid…  
**Mills:** Did Swoops know? Parse, you had to know right?  
**Parse:** I knew it was a possibility. Swoops only knew bc management fucking called him.  
**Hooks:** HAHAHAHAHA. Of course they did.  
**Hammer:** Starting to believe Hooks stories about rookie!Parse.  
**Parse:** I hate all of you. Why are you my friends?  
**Matty:** Can we get back to the WTF of Zimmermann signing?  
**Cenzer:** Seriously.  
**Mills:** And obviously Tater knew.  
**Matty:** Where is Tater??  
**Parse:** Matty, I was going to call you after Mills, I swear.  
**Parse:** Tater is busy. He knew bc I fail at lying to him, and he’s friends with Zimms.  
**Parse:** Neither of us knew officially before you guys because we weren’t the first call and you started freaking out before he called us.  
**Mills:** Meaning Tater is on the phone with Zimmermann right now. :/  
**Parse:** You guys know I couldn’t just tell you about this without permission. I couldn’t tell you guys it was even a possibility.  
**Matty:** Fair, I won’t be mad at you about it.  
**Parse:** You’re supposed to be my normal friend. : (  
**Matty:** I AM your BEST friend because Swoops is basically related. Zimmermann is an asshole.  
**Parse:** Matty, you know we’re friends. We’ve been friends again for a while. And it’s been fine.  
**Cupid:** Listen, I want to believe you, but if *Matty* hates him…  
**Parse:** And Matty just showed up at my house. Let the record show that I’m leaving my call with Zimms to deal with his shit so I’m not being a dick friend to him just bc of Zimms.  
**Hammer:** Reaper? Davy? Swoops? Rusher? What story are we missing? Clearly there’s more of a story here.  
**Davy:** Probably better to let them tell that story if they want.  
**Hammer:** So unfair. Reaper? Rusher? Hooks???  
**Rusher:** Matty not think Zimmermann is good influence on Parse. Parse do stupid stuff bc of him, but was long time ago.  
**Mills:** Yeah, Reaper can’t drive and text. He literally just got right up when this started and got in the car to drive to Parse’s house. He wouldn’t let me go with. : (  
**Hammer:** Damn.  
**Tater:** Sorry we could not say anything before you find out, but was not sure.  
**Rusher:** We know Zimmermann your friend. But he make Parse do stupid things first year I come to Aces.  
**Tater:** I know. But it was very different thing then.  
**Hooks:** Can we just stop pretending we don’t know why that is?  
**Parse:** This stays in this chat and only this chat.  
**Hammer:** Isn’t that always how this chat is?  
**Parse:** Things were weird when I was a rookie bc Zimms and I dated right before that. But that was a long time ago and now we’re just friends.  
**Parse:** Obviously if it’s not an issue for Tater, it’s not an issue anymore. Seriously. It was HIGH SCHOOL.  
**Parse:** I’m not going to go off the deep end bc he’s here or clearly Swoops would’ve objected.  
**Parse:** This is ridiculous. Should I be this concerned about your high school girlfriends/boyfriends? We were 17 when we broke up. It was a long time ago.  
**Hammer:** WHAT??? You dated Zimmermann???  
**Mills:** rotflmao. How did you not figure that out? Zimmermann is bi.  
**Cupid:** His boyfriend was at Parse and Tater’s wedding.  
**Hammer:** Not all gay/bi people date each other! Cupid knew Parse before Tater and they never hooked up? OMG. You guys never hooked up, right?  
**Mills** WTF?! NO. THEY NEVER HOOKED UP. OMG.  
**Hooks:** Hammer is just not assuming everything. And he’s right. Obviously. No one thinks Parse and Cupid hooked up.  
**Hammer:** But you knew.  
**Hooks:** Um, yeah, but I met Parse like when I’m assuming was right after they broke up so once I figured out he was gay, shit made way more sense. He was fucked up over it. That’s why Reaper and Matty don’t like Zimmermann.  
**Parse:** It was complicated. You know that. It wasn’t his fault. It was no one’s fault.  
**Parse:** The point is that we’re just friends and have been friends for a long time.  
**Parse:** Besides, you all know this means they probably won’t sign someone else.  
**Mills:** When I said I’d give anything to have Teller not get signed, this is not what I meant.  
**Parse:** His boyfriend is actually his fiancé now and this year has been really shitty so you guys need to be nice.  
**Mills:** Ugh. You’re going to try to add him to chat aren’t you?  
**Parse:** I’m not forcing it in any of the Aces chats yet. It’s just that all the difficult guys are in this one. And two are at my fucking house right now bc Matty also came over. They’re driving me crazy while I try to deal with this chat at the same time.  
**Mills:** And once they give in, you’ll do it.  
**Parse:** You can have a say, but he’s never done anything to you. He fought a guy for you when you both played for team Canada.  
**Mills:** Bc you can’t get mad at your own team and you told him to.  
**Parse:** Nope. Didn’t have to. You tried to ignore him all of worlds and he did that on his own. He’s a good guy and a good teammate.  
**Parse:** And a fucking good hockey player. I for one haven’t seen the cup in too long.  
**Cupid:** I’m staying out of the discussion.  
**Cenzar:** Translation: Cupid doesn’t care. He’s probably happy Zimmermann defended Mills because that’s what he really cares about.  
**Matty** But he wants Mills to sleep with him so he can’t say that.  
**Hammer:** FACTS.  
**Hooks:** They’re going to make Parse-Zimmermann-Tater a line for overtime and it’ll be Parse and 2 guys he’s hooked up with :’D  
**Hammer:** Technically we could have Parse-Zimmermann-Mills with Cupid and Tater on defense and it would be all gay/bi guys on the ice at once except Cenzar. :’D  
**Hooks:** Ugh, that might actually make so much sense but also make so many people mad.  
**Hammer:** Mills included. :’D  
**Mills:** Ugh. I don’t have to like him to play with him. Team Canada won remember?  
**Rusher:** Yes. We all remember.  
**Mills:** I accept that I have to play with him. I’m withholding judgment on everything else.  
**Matty:** I’m still Parse’s best friend and he’s not.  
**Parse:** Seriously? Could at least one of you tweet something nice? It’s like me, Tater and the prospects who are going to be confused at why you’re all being jerks.  
**Parse:** We’re supposed to be the most welcoming team in the league. Come on.  
**Hammer:** I’ll do it for the sake of PR if the rest of the guys aren’t going to get mad at me.  
**Hooks:** Parse says he’s over it. Zimmermann was nice on team Canada. Honestly, it’s been a long time and we all knew that whole situation was probably complicated as fuck.  
**Parse:** Thank you! He’s really a good guy. Please give him a chance.  
**Rusher:** I will do it if your husband stop sending me sad snapchats bc I don’t like his best friend.  
**Tater:** :D Zimms is very good guy. Good teammate and good friend.  
**Cenzar:** Should I be worried about my job?  
**Tater:** Snowy knows Aces not likely option. He ask for trade from Falconers but he doesn’t think they let him go. : (  
**Hooks:** So like…Snow knows our GM right?  
**Tater:** Yes. We hope something happens. But right now he stuck. But he straight so is not as hard for him as for Zimms. : /  
**Cupid:** They didn’t like that he’s bi? That makes it harder to be mad he’s here.  
**Mills:** I thought you were staying out of it?  
**Cupid:** I’m just saying. My rookie year was so much easier once I found out Parse was gay even if he didn’t know I knew. And that so many of the other guys knew and were ok with it….  
**Parse:** The Falconers were like that. Tater left at exactly the right time. And a lot of the guys on the Falconers tried to help, but it’s been a shitty year for him.  
**Parse:** He had other options. He couldn’t be completely sure he could be out to the team with them.  
**Swoops:** Just caught up. And yeah. Honestly at this point, I think it’s fine. And let’s be real. We know how good Zimmermann is. How much did they have to hate his sexuality and his political views to let him go?

***

**Kent**

Kent is still trying to keep up with the group chat when the front door opens and Matty announces himself. He almost regrets giving Matty a key. Almost, but not really. He’s had a key to Matty’s apartment since Matty gave him one the summer after their rookie year. He was afraid that one day Kent might go out and get drunk enough that he actually thought Jeff didn’t want him to come home. Kent didn’t give Matty a key to his house until after he came out to most of the guys. Matty doesn’t use it for much. It’s mostly a symbol that Kent’s finally letting him in and trusting him. It makes sense that Jack coming to Vegas would be the thing to make Matty use it without asking.

“You beat Reaper. Were you texting and driving?”

“I wasn’t home. I was at Lana’s. She drove me.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,” Kent says.

“I know,” Matty says. “I’m not _mad_ at you.”

“It’s going to be fine. We’re not like that anymore. We’re friends now.”

“So _now_ he’s going to let you fix all his problems so you’re just going to do it.”

“I’m not in charge. I couldn’t make them sign him. That was all agents and management. You know that. And you know it was a good decision for the team or they wouldn’t have done it.”

“You could’ve stopped it. You could’ve just told him you didn’t want him here, and he wouldn’t’ve signed,” Matty says. “But you didn’t because you _do_ want him here.”

“It’s not like there was a chance they’d trade you for him,” Kent says. He was sure they wouldn’t sign Teller. It probably means they’ll trade some of the guys who were on the cusp of the making the fourth line. It will probably knock Becker off their line, but he plays well with Mills anyway. And it’s not like they didn’t all know there were going to be some changes. They were going to lose some of the guys who were UFAs anyway. Zimms’ situation means they got a much better player for the price than they’d have gotten any other way.

They both glance down at the group chat when Kent pauses to send a reply.

“Where’s Tater?” Matty asks.

“Upstairs.”

“Talking to Zimmermann.”

“Yes. And I came down here to talk to you.”

Matty sighs.

“I’m not just jealous. We’re not kids anymore. But Parse, fuck. I know he’s going through some shit, and I’m sorry about that. It’s not like I ever wanted him to be going through any of that shit. But you’re good. You’re really fucking good now. You don’t need his problems.”

“He’s my friend,” Kent says.

“You’re almost worse than Swoops, you know? Always trying to take care of everyone,” Matty says as the door opens again, and Reaper comes in. Reaper doesn’t have a key, so either Matty left the door unlocked, or Reaper stole Mills’ keys.

“Parse _is_ worse than Swoops,” Reaper says. “Swoops stopped trying to take care of everyone about six years ago when he decided Parse was his first priority. How did you get him to approve this?”

“He likes Zimms. He stopped holding a stupid grudge a long time ago.”

“Kid. I don’t hate Zimmermann,” Reaper says, with the same pity in his eyes he’s always had when Zimms comes up.

“Did you guys miss that I got married? It was a whole thing. You were both in the wedding. I’m going to be fine with him here.”

“Are you going to tell us if you’re not?” Matty says.

“What does that even mean?” Kent asks. “Do you want me to apologize again for not coming out to you sooner?”

“Kid, we never want you to apologize for that.”

“Seriously. I mean that,” Matty says. “But you didn’t need to come out to us to talk to us about half of the shit that happened. How many times did I ask you what was wrong and you didn’t answer me? You could’ve said you were just friends and still talked to me.”

Kent sighs and goes to sit down.

“I just hated talking about it. I didn’t tell Swoops half the time either. He only knows shit because he literally sat through most of my therapy sessions.”

“They offered me a media job,” Reaper says. “I’m taking it.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Kent says even if he’s not upset about that in general.

“It’s also for Mills,” Reaper says, and Kent nods because that’s believable.

“Look, I know we can’t change this now,” Matty says. “Just tell me you’ll talk to me. Don’t take all his shit on yourself.”

“You don’t like him, but you want me to promise you I’ll let you help if he has issues?”

“I can multi-task. I have all this extra time now because HR makes everyone go through sensitivity training about LGBTQ issues, and I don’t have to try to do it myself in secret.”

Kent doesn’t really have an answer that, but the thing is that he knows Matty. Matty’s not an asshole. He promised Bitty that when Bitty was afraid the other captains would never accept Jack. So instead of answering, Kent just stands up and pulls Matty into a hug.

***

“Sorry I was busy when the chat blew up,” Jeff says when the Aces finally quiet down about Zimms signing. Matty and Reaper have gone home mostly because Kent pleaded to their better halves about it. At least Jeff was already on board with the idea. Jeff’s already sent Zimms the information for the realtor that he used to buy his own house. Sometimes Kent thinks that if there is a god, then he’s nicer than Kent’s parents taught him. Maybe Kent will finally forgive God for all that shit since he has Jeff and their moms now. He’s knows Swoops isn’t even helping just because Kent asked him to. He’s just that nice of a guy.

“It’s okay. I knew it was coming. I was _hoping_ it was coming.”

“You know if it’s an emergency—” Jeff starts.

“I’m not going to call you out of your pre-marriage counseling two weeks before your wedding when it’s really not an emergency. I’m fine. Tater was here. Reaper and Matty are calmed down. Reaper isn’t even trying to call Alex and come out of the retirement he just started. It’s fine. I can do this, and it’s going to be great.”

Jeff refuses to go home even when Kent calls Krystle, but he sleeps in his own bed and Krystle stays, so Kent decides it’s not worth fighting him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is the longest group chat in this entire series. Sorry? They had lots to say about this development?
> 
> In other news, I got back the roughs of the first five pieces I commissioned. They are so amazing. DYING.
> 
> I had to get another planner in addition to my regular planner just to keep track of when I'm posting what on different platforms, but I should stay on track to keep updating every Friday or Saturday at least. Gimme More chapters will not always mean an extra post, but I wanted to start this off with three posts this week. I've been so excited about it. <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Kent**

Kent tells Jack and Bitty that he’s going to the airport to pick them up whether they like it or not when they fly in to look for houses. Alicia and Bob arrive at the airport first, so they end up hanging out with Kent and Tater for an hour. It’s nice. He hasn’t gotten to see Alicia much in the last few years. It always ends up being easier for Bob to make the trip. He’ll see her a few more times a year now, but it doesn’t hurt anymore that it’s for Jack.

Kent jumps on Zimms as soon as he sees him and Zimms just laughs.

“Someone’s going to start rumors you’re cheating on Tater now,” Zimms says, but he still holds on longer than normal.

“I’ll do something cute with him later and that’ll fix it,” Kent says when he pulls back and switches places with Tater as soon as Tater puts Bitty down.

It’s a long day because Zimms is determined to find a house the first day so they can get moving. Admittedly, they’d already narrowed it down to a few through e-mail and Bitty does need to start work soon. And Zimms....well, Kent can tell he wants to leave Providence behind now that he’s decided.

The house they settle on is in the same general area as Kent’s. Not quite as close as Jeff’s, but Kent’s sure Jeff ranked _proximity to Kent_ a bit too high on his own list of priorities. There’s enough space for them to grow into it, and Bitty got to have a lot more say this time. Kent and Tater may have beat them to coming out and getting married, but he’s sure Zimms and Bitty are going to have kids a lot sooner. There’s just no practical way Kent can imagine having kids while he and Tater are both playing. It’s fine. He’s going to just keep annoying Jeff about it until he makes Kent a niece or nephew.

They still need furniture and even Jack Zimmermann can’t just buy a house in five minutes, so Kent talks Bitty and Jack into crashing in Jeff’s room at his house instead of a hotel.

“Don’t worry. Jeff only stays here when he’s overly worried about me, so basically nothing has ever happened in this bed besides sleeping. Though feel free to change that and freak Jeff out.” Zimms looks exhausted and it’s probably not just the jet lag, so Parse leaves them alone and joins Alexei in their bedroom. Kit is already curled up on the bed in his spot. She only protests a bit when he moves her so he can cuddle up with his husband.

“Is too bad they can’t stay more days. See more of Vegas. Meet new trainer. Training more fun with Zimmbo—, I mean Zimms, there,” Alexei says.

Kent doesn’t see how that could possibly be true, but he doesn’t argue that particular point.

“He’s not ready,” Kent says.

“But is already done,” Alexei looks concerned. Zimms is his best friend, but he’s never seen Zimms through this kind of a change. Kent might have missed everything that happened after the draft, but he remembers how much Zimms had hated the wait leading up to it.

“Well, it’s set, but it’s not really switched,” Kent explains. “He hates this part. Where everything is in the middle. He’s not here yet, but he doesn’t feel like he belongs in Providence. Change is hard for him, so he likes to divide everything as clearly as he can. Once he signed, he just wanted to switch. Watch. He’ll have them completely moved in a week. He’ll probably never go to Providence again except for games.”

“But he go back to Samwell entire time in Providence?”

“Yeah. Because it wasn’t a real change. He avoided it then. It was just like an extension of Samwell.”

Kent is glad that Zimms already has an appointment with a therapist Caitlyn recommended. He’s pretty sure Zimms plans to try and just block out Providence in his head like it never happened just because the last year was bad. Kent’s not a shrink, so he’s not sure if that’s healthy or not. It’s better if someone else figures that out, and he can just ask Zimms how to help. Either way, he really doesn’t want Zimms to stop talking to Marty and Thirdy just because they remind him of Providence. There’s no way that’s healthy.

“I know you worry. Will be okay. We help. The guys will help. Therapist will help. He will be okay.”

***

Jeff comes over the day after he gets back from his honeymoon.

“Don’t try to kick me out. Krystle went to dance class. We had three weeks together. I texted Mills. He’s coming over.”

Kent considers arguing that he could’ve been busy, but Tater left for Providence the day before to help Zimms and Bitty finish packing up their apartment.

“As long as you worked on getting me a niece or nephew to put in the Stanley Cup when we win it, you can stay.”

Jeff rolls his eyes. He’s used to Kent bugging him about having kids. If Kent wasn’t sure that he and Krystle wanted kids, he wouldn’t do it. But they do, and he’s excited, okay? He loves their family. And he’s so grateful that their moms think adopting a son at eighteen is totally normal, but he’s excited to have someone enter the family who will consider him part of it from the very beginning. Jeff’s probably going to adopt a kid eventually and that’s just as good as making one as far as Kent is concerned, but point is that Kent is ready to be a cool uncle.

“We’re actually waiting a couple months to start trying,” Jeff says.

“Why?”

Jeff shrugs. If he answered and gave a fair reason like Krystle wasn’t quite ready, Kent would drop it, but instead he just looks nervous. Kent thinks about it. A couple months isn’t that much of a difference anyway. Then Kent remembers how Reaper tried to time Emily’s birth because of how hard it was for him to have Mason born in the middle of the season.

“Are you seriously trying to wait until off-season? Why? You’re not playing.”

“You are,” Jeff says.

“And what? You don’t think I can deal with things if they get hard and you can’t be there? Seriously? That’s bullshit. You didn’t need to come to 20 away games last year. You know you won’t be able to do that once the kid is born, right?”

Yes, Kent knows it’s totally up to them when they want to have a kid. He’s not mad about that. He’s mad that Jeff doesn’t think Kent can handle life without him. He’s not a lost teenager anymore. He’s fucking married, and Alexei will be on those trips with him. He’s not a disaster anymore, and he’s really not so much of a disaster that he needs supervision from both Alexei and Jeff all the time.

“That’s not why,” Jeff says.

“Really?”

“It’s not,” Jeff sighs and then looks up at Kent before he continues. He looks hurt and scared, and Kent feels like an ass.

“What is it?” Kent asks as he comes to sit next to Jeff on the couch.

“I want you there,” Jeff says. “I want a kid, but it’s the most fucking scary thing I’ve ever decided to do in my life. I know I can’t completely plan it, but if it’s possible, I want you to be at the hospital. I don’t want you to be in fucking Canada or something if something goes wrong and I’m freaking out. I know you feel like I’m the one always taking care of you, but that’s just because it’s less obvious when you do it. And you don’t think you’re even doing anything, but you do. So, um, yeah, Krystle agreed to try to time it so you’ll be around.”

“Dude,” Kent says. “First, I’m sorry I suck, and I didn’t think of it like that. Of fucking course I want to be there. I’m going to be fighting your moms for who gets to hold that kid first when you guys are willing to let them go.”

Jeff laughs and leans into the hug Kent gives him.

“You’re going to be the best dad ever. And I’m going to be around all the time to help. Probably so much that the kid doesn’t even think I’m cool anymore. Mills will be the cool uncle. It’s sure as hell not going to be Reaper.”

***

On his third day training with Zimms, Alexei comes home obviously worried. He’s also exhausted. Much more exhausted than Kent knows he should be.

“I’m calling him,” Kent says.

“No. Baby, no. He not in good mood.”

“Clearly. Just because he wants to train himself to death to forget his problems, doesn’t mean he gets to kill you in the process,” Kent says.

“Is fine. Off tomorrow and then next day is day with trainer. He will listen to trainer,” Alexei says.

“Fine. But if he overworks you, I’m saying something. I’m saying something if he overworks himself. It is my business if our best players injure themselves in the off-season.”

Cupid starts coughing in the middle of taking a drink. Kent looks to the couch where Mills is rubbing Cupid’s back as he coughs. Mills looks at Kent and rolls his eyes as he puts the glass Cupid had been drinking from on the coffee table.

“What?” Kent asks.

“Since when do you interfere with what we do in the off-season?” Mills asks.

“It’s not the first time.”

“Really?” Mills asks.

“It’s not. I definitely said something about Hammer doing drugs in Amsterdam.”

Mills gives him a look.

“You want me to let him work my husband to death?” Kent asks. As far as he’s concerned, Tater already trains harder than he should, but Kent tries to let it go because there’s only so much he can argue against years of Russian trainers. Rusher is the same way and that’s why adding Zimms to the equation didn’t seem like it would make a difference.

“I’m fine, baby. It’s fine,” Alexei says. “He not really take out on me. Just want to work off feelings. Is okay. Is off day tomorrow.”

Kent ignores them and texts Bitty.

 **Kent:** He’s going to see his new therapist tomorrow, right?  
**Bitty:** Yes.  
**Bitty:** So I guess he did push Tater really hard, then? He realized. He feels bad. I guess he apologized but Tater said he was fine.  
**Kent:** He’s tired. He’s not hurt or anything.  
**Bitty:** Are you mad at him? He’s afraid you’re mad at him.  
**Kent:** I’m concerned. If I call, will he talk to me? I just want to help. Not upset him.  
**Bitty:** Yeah.

“I’m sorry,” Zimms says as soon as he answers.

“I know. I’m not mad,” Kent says because he meant what he said, and he doesn’t actually want to make Zimms feel bad. “Where you just overworking yourself, and he went along, or were you pushing him?”

“I didn’t mean to push him. I don’t think I was,” Zimms says. “I just wanted to do more. And he went along.”

“You have a trainer. You know exactly what you’re both supposed to be doing.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Jack says.

“I know. And I know him, but I know you, too,” Kent says, trying to keep his voice the right amount of gentle. “Zimms, you’re already worth your contract. The season last year wasn’t because you didn’t work hard enough. The shit they gave you clearly had nothing to do with that.”

Zimms doesn’t answer him. Maybe he should’ve driven over, but Cupid just got here and the last thing he needs is to show Cupid that he ditches them for Zimms. Cupid is his best shot at getting Mills to give Zimms a chance.

“Zimms. You don’t have be any better than you are. You’re going to be fine at camp with exactly the training you’re supposed to be doing. You’re not going to be fine if you overdo it and get hurt before camp.”

“Or if I push Tater and Rusher and get them hurt.”

“Both,” Kent says with what he hopes is enough conviction.

“Okay,” Zimms says. It’s quiet, but there doesn’t seem to be an argument in it.

“Great. And we’re hanging out next week. I’ll find something boring in the city you’ll think is fun.”

Zimms laughs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting early today because I'm going to class tomorrow and then going to see Kesha! Kent loves Kesha too, I'm sure. She's not Britney but he can't only listen to Britney.
> 
> Also I'm sure impatient to get to the next chapter and have Jack interacting with the team. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Jack**

Kenny insists on picking Jack up for his first media day with the Aces. Jack expects to see Tater in the car, but it’s just Kent.

“Should I be worried? Are you bringing me in an hour early for some kind of hazing ritual?” Jack knows he’s the biggest deal of the new guys coming to the team this year, but from what he knows of the team, he figured if there was any hazing, it would be all together.

“No. Just something I wanted to do with just us,” Kent says. “But don’t feel too special. I’ve done this for a few other guys—mostly for guys who didn’t come here completely because they wanted to.”

“I want to be here,” Jack says because it’s true. “I didn’t get traded out of nowhere.”

“I know, but it’s not exactly just because you wanted to either.”

Jack doesn’t bother arguing. Yes, he wants to be here, but he never thought he’d leave the Falconers so soon. Three years ago, when Kent asked if he’d ever come to the Aces, he didn’t rule it out, but he couldn’t think of any reason he’d want to leave. Even when Tater left and Marty and Thirdy retired, Jack had felt good. He’d won the Cup. He was going to have a C on his jersey the next year. When he first met the new general manager, Scott had seemed excited to have Jack on his team. He was sad to hear George got an offer she couldn’t turn down in Houston, but he was happy for her and he didn’t think too much about who would replace her.

Then the whole issue with going to the White House had come up. Maybe if Jack hadn’t gone to Samwell, and he never met Shitty, he could’ve just gone. He could’ve given the media answer he was expected to give and been the hockey robot that they wanted. But he did go to Samwell and love it. And he did know Shitty. And even if Shitty said that he’d understand, Jack could see his disappointment. He could see _Bitty’s_ disappointment. He could see Kenny’s distaste. But it was really his dad who made his decision. Of course, his dad would understand, and he told Jack as much. But when Jack asked how he’d feel if Jack didn’t go, his father’s pride was obvious.

“Son, I’ve always been proud of how you play,” Bob had said. “But it’s always going to mean more to me that you’re a good person who wants to do the right thing. Now, I’m still going to be proud of you if you go. I know it’s going to be rough and there might be consequences and if that’s going to be too much for you, that’s okay. You don’t have to fight every battle. But if you want to fight this one, I’ll back you all the way. Your mom already made it really clear who she voted for months ago.”

And so, he’d rebelled and refused to do the White House visit. They’d only scratched him for one game. They wanted to punish him, but they didn’t want to lose. Then he’d hurt his leg. Then he’d been called in to talk about Bitty. The guys were used to Bitty. They liked him, and they liked his pie. But apparently Scott was the one person who couldn’t fall in love with Bitty through pie. They said his support of Kent and Tater was already feeding rumors. They said maybe he should be a little more careful when what he’d been planning to do was stop being careful until he was out. Bitty tried to pretend he didn’t hate living in Providence because Jack was already stressed enough for both of them. _Jack_ tried to pretend he liked living in Providence until his agent called about negotiating his contract and he couldn’t make himself lie about it anymore. They didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs and Jack was relieved that he didn’t have to go to work for a while. That feeling was enough to make him call Kent.

After that, everything seemed to happen fast. The Aces wanted him. The Aces were easy to negotiate with. When he admitted that he wanted to come out, the general manager said it wasn’t a problem. After the contract was signed, Alex just asked, “so, you know if you come out, you’re going to get asked about Parson. Are you guys planning to tell the truth or not?”

Everything after that had been so quick that Jack is just happy it’s time to get settled on a new team. Maybe once he’s on the ice, everything will start to feel right again.

Kent parks in a reserved spot in the garage of the training facility. It has his name. Of course, it does.

“You don’t even get the best spot?” Jack asks when he realizes the closer one says _Jordan Matthews_.

“Parking is by seniority, not because I’m captain. Matty signed before me. Tater always makes me drive so he doesn’t have to walk. He can’t even get away with driving my car in and parking here unless I’m hurt and in the car with him, or he’ll get fined. Mills keeps trying to make me pick him up because he’s been riding with Reaper for three years, and he’s lazy.”

“I can handle a walk,” Jack says. He follows Kent inside and lets Kent introduce him to everyone they pass on the way. It’s weird hearing “Zimms” again from anyone besides Kent, but they talked about it already. Maybe if he’d left differently, he’d want to keep “Zimmboni.” Tater gave it to him, and he loves Tater. But he doesn’t want to hear it right now. Bitty and Shitty both tried to talk him into JZ again, and he knows if he’d wanted it, Kent would’ve made it happen, but he ended up deciding to go back to Zimms. Maybe it’s stupid and it completely breaks his rule about not relying on Kent to fit in, but it’s comforting. It makes him feel safe.

Kent leads them to a large room set up with tables and tables of Aces gear. It’s obviously set up so that the guys can come in and go from table to table to pick up everything they’re getting at the beginning of camp. Aces hats, Aces t-shirts, Aces hoodies. Kent skips past all the other tables to go to the last table. He sorts through the bags until he finds the one he wants and presents it to Jack.

“I wanted to give these to you myself,” Kent says.

The bag has two Aces Zimmermann jerseys: one black one for home games and one white one for away. Of course, these are mostly for the media they have to do today and even as picky as Jack is, he’s gotten used to just leaving his things to the equipment guys. He’ll probably even end up giving these back at the end of the day to be cleaned. So, this whole thing Kent’s doing is mostly symbolic. Still, when he pulls out the black jersey and reads his name on the back, it’s a lot. Kent leads him to a chair to sit down and takes the bag back so that Jack is holding just the jersey.

Jack picked number 1 when he was a kid because his dad was 11 and in his kid brain, that was the kid version of 11. Of course, his dad and all his uncles thought it was adorable. Then at some point, he got it in his head that he couldn’t have his dad’s number until he was good enough. If it was up to Bob, Jack could’ve started using it whenever he wanted, but Jack had refused. He wasn’t good enough yet in juniors. He was going to Samwell because he fucked up, so he really wasn’t going to use it then. When he picked #1 to go to the Falconers, his dad didn’t bother arguing.

But #1 is retired on the Aces. Of course, Bob didn’t bring it up. Bob probably expected him to pick #10 to be stubborn or #15 for Bitty. Kent said he didn’t fail on the Falconers. He won the Stanley Cup and then he stood up for himself and a lot of other people at the same time. Kent said he deserved #11 and then called Bob on Skype and made him say the same thing.

So now he’s looking at an Aces jersey with Zimmermann and #11 on the back and his eyes are watering and it’s hard to breathe.

“Hey. Breathe,” Kent says next him. “What part is freaking you out the most? That there’s an Aces jersey with your name on it or the number?”

“All of it?” Jack says.

“Fair,” Kent says. He rubs Jack’s back for a few minutes and directs him to take deep breaths like he did when Jack was overwhelmed in the Q.

Finally, Jack wipes his face and laughs.

“You know, I was actually looking forward to this. I thought it would help.”

“Help how?” Kent asks.

“I just thought I’d put the jersey on and I’d be part of a team again. I thought it would help, and I wouldn’t feel like I didn’t belong anywhere anymore. I’ve been wanting this since the day I told you I wanted to come here.”

“Okay, first of all, you _are_ part of a team again and you _do_ belong here. These are good guys. You’ve met half of them already, and they like you.”

“Your best friend on the team hates me. And he’s an A,” Jack says.

“Zimms, Matty has weird jealousy issues, but he’s also a marshmallow. He’s going to get over it. I promise.”

“Mills hates me.”

“Mills also tried to hate Tater. He’ll be fine.”

“And you ordered him to be nice to me?” Jack wants to be angry. He wants to tell Kent that he doesn’t need to be babied. But that’s hard to say when he’s crying over a jersey. If Kent hadn’t babied him and brought him here alone, it would all be so much worse.

“Mills is complicated, but I know him, so trust me that he’ll get over it. Zimms, this team has always been a team that takes care of each other. It was like that when I got here and as long as I’m here, I’m going to make sure it stays like that. I’m 100 percent sure that Matty and Mills will have your back if you need them. They will totally pull the whole, ‘I can pick on him, but you can’t’ bullshit. If Reaper was still here, he’d fight Curren for you just as soon as me.”

“Okay,” Jack says even if he’s not sure he believes it. He looks down at the jersey again. He traces the number. It helps. At some point after he told his dad about Bitty, his father became a comfort instead of something he had to live up to. Kent says he earned it, but Jack agreed to the number so his dad would be with him. When he admitted that to his dad, Bob hadn’t looked anything but happy about it and said that he was glad for that, but in his opinion, Jack never needed to earn his number anyway.

“You want to try putting it on?”

“I’m going to have to do it soon anyway,” Jack says. He sighs and pulls it on over his t-shirt. It’s big without all his pads. Jack wraps his arms around himself for a second and then opens up to look down at the Aces logo on his chest.

“Okay?” Kent asks.

Jack takes a deep breath and thinks about it. He looks up at Kenny with his Aces t-shirt and backwards Aces cap and so much love and concern in his eyes. It still hurts, but there’s something else too. There’s a bit of the calm he was hoping for. It’s not the home he planned for, but Kenny has his back and he knows his stall in the locker room is next to Tater’s because Tater got excited and told him.

“I’m okay,” Jack says. When Kent gives him a doubting look he adds, “It’s really weird. It feels really good and really sad at the same time. It's _real_ now.”

“That kind of makes sense,” Kent says.

“How did you know this would be so hard? You’ve been on the same team forever. You’re going to retire here.”

“I told you that you weren’t the first player who came here when they didn’t really want to,” Kent says. “And I know it was stupid, but I was always kind of hoping we’d both be sent back the Q for another year after the draft. It was weird for me to wear the Aces jersey for a while and then eventually it was the most comforting thing to have on.”

“You were never going to go back to the Q after that. You know that.”

“Yeah. I know. I stole your away jersey way before the draft so I’d have it.”

“I got fined for that,” Jack says. He was never sure that was where it went, but he suspected. It was why he didn’t completely freak out about it getting lost.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to pay you back now or do you want me to try to see if I still have it somewhere so I can give it back?”

“You know exactly where it is,” Jack says.

“Yeah, well I’m not going to tell any of the guys you cried over your Aces jersey so you can shut up about your Q jersey.”

“As long as Tater’s not going to find it and get mad at me.”

“He knows about it,” Kent says with a shrug.

“So, are you ready to beat the lines and get the rest of your shit before everyone else gets here?” Kent asks before he can ask how that conversation happened.

“Aren’t we supposed to get an equipment manager to check that shit off?”

“I bribed Gabe. He’s used to me,” Kent says. He gets up and pulls Jack with him.

“I thought you weren’t going to give me special treatment?” Jack says.

“I’m not. Not really,” Kent says. “I told you that you weren’t the first guy I did something like this for. Maybe just the one whose reaction I could guess the most. Zimms, I know this kind of sucks. Let me help you this time, okay? Besides, except for Tater, everyone gets special treatment from me. So, it’s not really special treatment, but individualized treatment. Matty has to be in charge of any captain stuff Tater needs, but Matty’s good at that.”

Jack isn’t sure he believes Kent at first, but throughout the day it proves to be true. At most Kent keeps an extra watch out for how Jack’s doing. But he sees Kent doing special things for different guys throughout the day, and he notices that Kent makes a point to talk to all the new guys at some point. He’s clearly told the media team to let Jack play games or something similar instead of just making him do embarrassing awkward stuff for the camera. Jack hates media day, but they pair him up with Tater and Kenny enough that it’s easier.

“You’re good at this. The whole captain thing,” Jack says when Kent comes over after the last meeting. “I mean, I knew you were, but not this much.”

Jack can tell it means something because Kent blushes and shrugs.

“And now I feel bad that I came over to tell you Tater has to drive you home because I promised Mills I’d give him a ride.”

“Because you’re giving him extra attention because you gave me extra attention all day?” Jack asks.

“Something like that,” Kent says. “It’s not a big deal. Also, you’re coming to dinner with some of the guys at my house in a couple days. You can’t argue because Bitty offered to cook, and I want his food. And Tater misses his food, so Tater will be mad at you.”

“Which guys?”

“Matty and his girlfriend, Mills, Cupid, Reaper and his wife, Jeff and his wife.”

“Half those people don’t like me.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kent says. “It’s family dinner. You’re family. They know that. They’ll be nice or Bitty won’t feed them, and they all want Bitty to feed them.”

Kent hugs him and whispers, “I’m really glad you’re here Zimms. It’ll be great. I promise.”

Then Kent’s gone, and Tater wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“I tell B that I’m taking you home. He says he has blueberry pie. I take you home all the time if you want. Blueberry pie worth walk to shit parking spot.”

***

**Kent**

Kent leaves Jack with Tater and goes to find Mills. He’s in the corner of the room talking to Cupid. Kent drops his arm around Mills’ shoulders and pulls him into a side hug. Kent knows he’ll always be Mills’ favorite and Mills loves Tater, but he also knows Mills misses Jeff as much as he still does, and he’s probably felt Reaper’s absence even more than Kent all day. Kent can admit to himself (and to Alexei) that he’s happy to have an excuse to drive Mills home and see Reaper for a few minutes.

“You ready to go?” Kent asks him.

“Yeah,” Mills says. He exchanges goodbyes with Cupid and Kent steps back so they can hug goodbye. They’re out to over half the team, but they’re in that awkward place where they just don’t know what to do with the new guys yet.

“Are you seriously taking me to get ice cream?” Mills says when he realizes Kent isn’t driving him straight home.

“You were nice to Zimms all day. You even called him Zimms instead of Zimmermann like Matty did. I remember promising you ice cream.”

“I assumed you were joking because I’m not five,” Mills says. Kent’s looking at the road, but he doesn’t need to see Mills roll his eyes to know that it happened.

“So, you don’t want to go for ice cream?” Kent says.

“You already missed the exit to go home. We might as well go.”

Kent waits until they have their bowls of ice cream and are sitting in a booth before he brings up what he really wants to say.

“Thank you. Really. I know you didn’t want him to be here, but you were nicer than I even expected. I’m really proud of you. You know a lot of the younger guys follow your lead.”

Mills looks down at his ice cream and shrugs. Kent’s not surprised. He feels just as awkward when Jeff and Reaper say these kinds of things. But they’re right that he still needs to hear it, and Mills does too. Just like he loves when Kent does stupid things like take him for ice cream.

“He’s having a really hard time, isn’t he?” Mills says after a pause.

“He is. But not because he doesn’t want to be here.”

“They gave him a lot of shit about being bi, didn’t they?”

It’s the one thing about Jack’s problems with the Falconers that was never public.

“It wasn’t like that until last year. They had a lot of changes in management,” Kent tells him.

“I can’t hate him when he’s that pathetic. And awkward. Is he always that awkward or is it because he’s upset?”

“That’s normal. It’s worse when he’s meeting a lot of new people.”

“That’s why Tater stayed with him so much?” Mills asks. Kent can see the bit of jealousy but it’s not as bad as he expected.

“Yeah. They’re friends, and Tater knew I had a lot of other things to worry about. But we will both still make time for you. And Zimms wants you to like him. He likes you.”

“I already agreed to give him a chance,” Mills says.

“I know. Any chance you can talk Reaper into being nicer than normal at dinner?”

“Do you remember Reaper? Unless Zimms completely loses those sad eyes overnight, you have nothing to worry about. Reaper got tickets to all the Schooners games so he can glare at Curren and Sponsler from the behind the penalty box after Tater hits them. Now he’s going to be working. I’ll bet you that he ends up selling them to Bad Bob.”

“What are we betting?”

“If I win, you replace the first piece of Aces gear I lose after I win with your own.”

“You can’t lose something on purpose. If you lose a glove, that’s what you get.”

“Fair.”

“If he doesn’t, I don’t know. I don’t really want to bet against him, so if you lose, you wash all the dishes in your house for a week.”

“That’s not even at all.”

“Yeah, but I’m hoping you win.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere in the extra notes from Ngozi, I read that Jack is #1 because he will never quite live up to Bob who was #11. (I can't find that note anywhere so maybe I dreamed it, but I'm fairly sure I didn't and I know Ngozi has deleted some of her old posts.) My versions of Kent and Bob hated this. So I decided #1 was retired on the Aces. ;)
> 
> Extra more person notes for this chapter can be found on my tumblr @lostinanimage


	5. Chapter 5

**Jack**

“I’m not giving you special treatment,” Kent says when he pulls Jack aside after they finish breakfast with the team. “It’s the first day official day of camp. I’m literally bugging everyone at some point in the next two days. I’m pretty sure Cupid is actively hiding from me, which is not fair. I’ve never done anything to him.”

“Then why is he avoiding you?”

“At this point it has to just be tradition. It’s not like he’s not coming to dinner tonight anyway,” Kent says. He leads them to a sitting area in the corner of the lounge that’s empty and pushes Jack onto the couch.

“So, what’re we doing?” Jack asks after Kent sits down.

“I always try to touch base with everyone one-on-one in the first few days. Especially the new guys.”

“You’ve texted me every single day since I moved,” Jack points out.

“You said you didn’t want special treatment. This is me treating you like everyone else,” Kenny says.

Jack sighs and waves his hand for Kent to continue.

“Okay, I admit I pulled you first for a reason,” Kenny says. “You’re meeting with the trainers and medical this morning.”

“You want to know if I’m going to tell them everything about my anxiety,” Jack fills in for him.

“Officially, you can tell me it’s none of my business,” Kent says.

“So, then you can wait until later when you can bug me as my friend and not my captain?”

Kent shrugs. Jack takes that as a yes.

“I don’t want them to treat me different,” Jack says. “But you know I’m supposed to disclose any medication I’m on.”

“They don’t share all of that with the coaches,” Kent says. “And they basically always let me play even when I was a lot more fucked up.”

“They don’t always let you go to the All-Star game,” Jack points out.

“As long as I’m mostly doing okay, they give me a say. The only time they didn’t was my second year, and I was still supposed to bring back proof that I was seeing Caitlyn at the time. Sometimes I’m glad for the mental health break. I went last year. Two years ago, I knew Alexei wasn’t going and I wanted to go see him.”

“You think I should tell them.” Jack sighs. He’s obviously going to disclose his medication dosage. It’s not worth risking the chance that he’ll get hurt and they’ll give him a medication that interacts badly with his regular meds.

“I didn’t want to either, but it’s been easier since I did,” Kent says. “And if you talk to the coaches, you don’t have to worry about what they’re guessing from the media. I’m obviously not going to say anything to them if you don’t want me to, but it’s easier when they know. They don’t really treat me differently.”

“But you don’t get panic attacks,” Jack says. Mostly he manages to not get them at the wrong times. The last year with the Falconers, that didn’t always work out.

“I’ll be there a lot of the time just in case,” Kent says. “So will Tater.”

“But you can’t always be there.”

Kenny nods and Jack sighs.

“I wouldn’t tell you it would be okay if I didn’t really think it would be,” Kent says. “But if you don’t want to tell the coaches, you don’t have to. I won’t do it without you.”

“Let me see how it goes with the trainers first? I’ll tell them everything at least,” Jack says. He doesn’t really want to, but Bitty will worry a lot more if he doesn’t.

“Okay. And you can always ask the coaches for a meeting later. They know you’re still adjusting.”

Jack nods.

“You’re going to get annoyed if I ask how you’re adjusting aren’t you?”

“It’s literally the first full day. We’ve done nothing besides eat breakfast.”

“Fair. Fair. This is me backing off,” Kent says as he gets up. “Dinner is tonight though, and it’ll be fine.”

***

Jack is just relieved to be done with the first day of training camp when it’s all over. Everyone was polite. Over half the team is still keeping their distance when they can. He’d meant what he said about Kent not giving him special treatment, but he can’t make himself chase away Tater when it will mean standing awkwardly alone.

“Hey Zimms,” Cupid calls out to him as he’s leaving. “Coach wants to see you in Alex’s office before you leave.”

Jack nods. Hammer makes a comment about him being in trouble as if they’re in high school. Jack doesn’t know if should be grateful for the chirp or not. It’s better than silence. At least Kenny and Tater are already gone and can’t follow him.

“It’s probably just to check in,” Cupid says quietly. “They used to do that to me. They worry if we’re not as loud as these guys.”

“This soon?” Jack asks.

“You’re a bigger deal than I was.”

Cupid rolls his eyes and smiles. So maybe not all the guys wish he wasn’t here.

When he gets to the GM’s office, it’s just him and Coach Day. Alex is behind his desk like he is every time Jack sees him. Coach Day stays standing, leaning against the desk after Jack follows his direction to take a seat.

“We want you to know we’re impressed with everything we’ve seen,” Alex says. “We know some of the guys have probably been a little rough on you.”

“It’s not an issue,” Jack says.

“We assumed you knew they might be like that,” Coach Day adds. Jack just nods. He was at Kent and Tater’s wedding. He’s crossed paths with some of the guys at Worlds and his first All-Star game.

“They’re good guys. Parse is a good captain. He says leave it alone and it’ll work itself out. And for the record, we agree with him,” Coach Day says.

“I don’t like to get too involved at that level,” Alex says. “I played. It’ll just get in the way. and I know that. Your dad hasn’t even called me once so I’m guessing he knows that too—which is a relief because he called once a week when we drafted Parse. He knows he only got away with it because he’s Bob Zimmermann.”

“Parse doesn’t know that. We’ll let you decide if you want to tell him,” Coach Day says with a laugh. Jack manages to laugh with him. Kenny is going to be mortified. Jack also makes a note to call his dad again and make sure he doesn’t think of calling.

“Really, I just wanted to make something clear,” Alex says. “Whatever happened before, it’s in the past. As far as we’re concerned, the Falconers were stupid to let you go. We want you here. We think you’re good for the team. As a player on the ice and in the locker room. And we’re sure the rest of the guys will figure that out.”

“Thanks,” Jack manages to say without choking on his words. It’s stupid. He’s an adult, but they took the time to say it, so they must’ve known he needed to hear it.

“You can go,” Coach says. “We just wanted you to know we’re behind you, but you should probably go before someone tells Parse we stole you. I swear, some days I’m amazed he shuts up and listens to me when it comes down to it.”

***

Jack assumes they’ll beat everyone else to Kent and Tater’s house for dinner because Bitty insists that it’s better if he just cooks the meal there. He thinks they’ll at least get a chance to relax before any of the other guys get there. Not that the Aces haven’t been welcoming. They have. Even Matty is professional even if he’s not exactly friendly. Jack is on the main Aces chat with everyone else, but he’s not stupid. There’s definitely another chat Kenny’s closest friends spend more time on, and he’s not on it. He’s not going to ask because Kenny’s already paying more attention to him than the other new guys no matter what he says about everyone getting attention from him. Ribera is nineteen, and he’s clearly struggling as he tries to make the roster for the second time, and Kent’s still paying more attention to Jack.

Except when they get to the house, Mills is already there. He’s sitting on Kent’s couch playing NHL 19 with Tater. They’re both playing with the Aces three-on-three. Mills scores when Tater looks away to greet Jack.

“How you win when I have Kent and Jack?” Tater says.

“Whatever,” Mills says. “Cupid’s like the best player in this game.”

Tater laughs and shoves Mills lightly. Jack reminds himself that Mills didn’t like Tater right away and now Mills glares when Tater pauses the game to get up and help Bitty carry things in to the kitchen. Jack follows because no matter how much Kent says the team will get used to him, he’s not ready to be left alone with Mills yet. It’s stupid. Mills is only twenty-one. He’s not a rookie anymore, but he’s still one of the younger guys on the team. Even if Jack’s had the same amount of years in the league as Mills, there’s no reason the kid should be so intimidating. He’s younger than _Chowder_.

But he’s also the kid Jack’s entire team seems to love more than anything. Grimm might be retired, but he took a job with the media, and Mills still lives with him. Cupid’s nice enough, but he doesn’t deny that he’s wrapped completely around Mills’ finger. Tater’s clearly fond of him. Kent obviously loves him like crazy. Three other guys have extended thanks to Jack for watching Mills’ back on Team Canada for Worlds. Mills is clearly everyone’s favorite, and he’s made it more than clear that he’s only playing nice with Jack because he has to.

“Thank you for the help,” Bitty says. “Now get Tater out of my kitchen before dinner burns just because he’s in the same room.”

“Why you hurt me so much?” Tater asks.

“Do you actually want to help, or do you want a nice dinner?” Bitty asks.

Tater runs out of the room as if he’s afraid he really will mess things up just by being in the kitchen. Jack follows him because they talked about this. If his anxiety gets bad, he’ll come back to the kitchen. But Kent’s kitchen is open to the living room with only the breakfast bar separating the two rooms. Bitty’s near enough, but Jack should at least try to mingle with the other people instead of hiding in the kitchen with his boyfriend. Kent comes back into the room and takes Mills’ controller and hands it to Jack.

“Get up,” Kent says, pulling on Mills’ arm until he stands.

“You’re supposed to be the nice one,” Mills says, but he gets up.

“I am. I’m leading you to the person who has the best chance of fixing your problem,” Kent says before turning back to Jack.

“Relax. Beat Tater at this game. We’ll make teams later, so get some practice in.” Kent pushes Jack onto the couch and pulls Mills into the kitchen.

Jack looks at Tater for an explanation, but Tater just grins and shrugs. Jack pretends to shift through the players while keeping half his attention on the kitchen. Kenny obviously has the highest ranking, but considering that Tater is playing with Kent, Jack, and himself and Mills was playing with Kent, Cupid, and himself, Jack suspects they weren’t picking their teams just on ranking.

“Are you offering help?” Bitty asks when Kent and Mills come into the kitchen.

“More like begging for help, but I can hang out and try to make up for it by actually helping,” Kent says.

“Meaning?” Bitty asks.

There’s no answer right away and when Jack looks over, he sees Kent nudge Mills.

“The guys have been trying to help me learn how to cook. It’s kind of a lost cause. Parse says if anyone can help, it’s you,” Mills says.

It’s quieter than Jack’s ever heard him. Most of the time he’s running around talking to everyone and inspiring a mix of fondness and exasperation in all the older guys. It’s the first time Jack’s ever heard him sound shy, and it’s the first time Jack’s had an idea of where all the protectiveness from the team comes from.

“Oh, well, tonight’s stuff might not be the best place to start, but if Kent wants to help too, then I can come up with something for you two to do,” Bitty says even though he told Jack an hour ago that if Mills was going to be petty, Bitty would show him who was better at that. Bits has never been good at holding a grudge when face to face with someone vulnerable—especially when that person asks him for help.

Bitty starts up a playlist, effectively killing Jack’s attempt at eavesdropping.

“Cupid tell Mills he needs to learn to clean and cook before they live together. Cooking has not been too successful—though Reaper was very happy he finally learn to clean clothes and dishes. Mills love Cupid more than he not like you,” Tater explains.

“I thought he liked living with Grimm still?” Jack says.

“Yes. But maybe not in a few years. And is clearly going to take a few years.” Tater laughs and nudges Jack’s controller with his own.

“You pick team and we play. They fix your number when they do roster updates or Kent will call them,” Tater says.

“He’s not going to call them. That’s stupid,” Jack says.

“You let him call about number and maybe he won’t call them again about rating being too low.”

Jack makes himself ignore whatever is going on in the kitchen. If anyone can win over Mills, it’s probably Bitty. Jack leaves Kenny on his team and exchanges Mills for himself because even if Kent says his rating is too low, it’s still the second highest on the Aces. He switches Cupid for Tater because Tater has a higher rating and Jack likes to win.

Jack’s gotten better at games than he was before college, but Tater has gotten a lot better than Jack remembers.

“When did you get good at this?” Jack asks.

“Aces young team. We were young guys on Falcs, now old guys on Aces. Kids teach me to play last year.”

“Because you hung out with them to hide from Grimm for half the season?” Jack asks. It’s hard not to be disappointed that his retirement doesn’t seem to mean Grimm is less involved with the team. Having Matty and Mills hating him is stressful enough.

“Grimm okay with me after Schooners game. Threats are just chirping now. Once they know you, will all be fine. Aces all good guys.”

“Matty always liked you,” Jack points out.

“Matty is not good at being mean anyway,” Tater says.

Jeff and Krystle show up next. They both detour to the kitchen for drinks and to say hi before Bitty declares that Kent’s kitchen isn’t big enough for them. Jeff fist bumps Tater and sits down on the other couch.

“I’m texting Ty and telling her to hurry up if we’re going to have to watch you guys play this game all night,” Krystle says.

“Parse doesn’t even like it. He just wants everyone else to play for him until his game unlocks everything without him having to do it. Mills and I will come over one day and play until he stops bitching,” Jeff says.

Tater laughs as Jack scores on him again.

“How you do that?” Tater asks. “I play more than you and you still beat me.”

“They wanted it to be realistic,” Jack says because he has to, “If it’s like real hockey, then I can still beat you.”

“Is not that realistic,” Tater says. “Kent lose, and he help make the game.”

“I play with the Samwell guys online,” Jack admits. He doesn’t admit that he played NHL 18 a lot more the previous year with them because he didn’t want to hang out with the Falcs. Tater wouldn’t guess that because Jack didn’t need to do that kind of thing before things in Providence went to shit.

Xander Grimm and his wife show up just as Jack and Tater finish the third period. Reaper. Jack should probably learn to call him Reaper like the rest of the team—though Jack isn’t sure Grimm wants him to. Ty surprises him and gives him a quick hug as Mills and Kent come back to the living room.

“Bitty says we’re just in the way,” Kent says. “But he told Mills he’d make time to help him learn with much easier things on another day.”

“Cooking is the worst,” Mills says as he dramatically plops on the floor in between Jack and Tater.

“It’s nice of Bitty to offer to teach you,” Ty says with the same tone in her voice that Jack’s heard from his own mother.

“I thanked him,” Mills says. He leans against Tater’s leg like Tater will protect him from her.

Tater hands his controller to Mills so he can pull Kent into his lap. Jack’s a little surprised when Kent doesn’t protest, but Kent is also wearing a tight Aces tank-top with Tater’s name and number that Jack is pretty sure is the same one Bitty got with his name and number at the first SOAP get-together. It’s nice to see Kenny this relaxed. Jack was like that with Bitty when Marty and Thirdy were still around.

Mills switches Jack out for himself in the line up and then changes Tater for Cupid before he nudges Jack.

“Zimms, are you going to let me avenge Tater? I _taught_ him how to play.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jack says. He’d good and his player selection is better, but maybe he should go easy. He wants this kid to like him.

Cupid comes in just as Mills uses the onscreen version of Cupid to knock down Jack and then score a goal.

“Are you beating people up with me again?” Cupid asks.

“And scoring. You already got one,” Mills says. He stands up without pausing the game, scores another goal with Cupid on screen and uses the break while his players celly to greet Cupid with a kiss.

Jack moves over to make room for Cupid on the couch and Mills resettles on the floor between Cupid’s legs.

“Did he warn you how good he is at this?” Cupid asks.

“I did say I was going to avenge Tater,” Mills says.

Jack is competitive. It’s why he’s good. It’s also why multiple board games got banned in the Haus. And Mills definitely doesn’t need anyone to go easy on him, so Jack doubles his efforts. Matty comes in with his girlfriend, but he takes one look at the game and just laughs.

Mills uses Cupid on the screen to get a hat trick.

“How is this happening?” Jack finally asks.

“Cupid’s the best player in the game,” Mills says and tilts his head back for kiss. Before the last period, he switches himself out with Ribera who is an option in the game because he got called up for three games in the previous season. Currently, he has the lowest ranking on the team.

“Really? You’re taking yourself out for Berry?” Kent asks.

“Yeah. My guy’s been playing all day. He’s looking kind of tired.” Mills says laughing.

“You make Cupid do all the work anyway,” Tater says.

Mills still beats him 3-8. He laughs. Jack groans and holds out the controller to no one in particular.

“That’s impressive against him,” Cupid says as he takes it. “I’m the only one who has beaten him.”

“Once. And you cheated,” Mills says. He switches Berry back out for himself, but leaves the rest of the players the same.

“How do you cheat playing this?” Jack asks.

“Don’t answer that!” Jeff, Kent, Cupid, and Reaper all say at the same time.

Mills just laughs. Cupid focuses intently on switching his players, but doesn’t look upset.

“Really? You’re not putting yourself in?” Mills says when Cupid ends up deciding to stick with Jack’s line up.

“You’re literally the only person playing this game who has figured out how to make me score that much,” Cupid says.

“See, it’s a realistic game. You play better for me,” Mills says.

“Fine. That’s a fine,” Reaper says. “Who is in charge of fines now?”

“I thought we decided no fining at family dinners,” Ty says.

“We definitely said no fining at family dinners,” Krystle agrees.

“I was not here for that decision, but I agree,” Bitty says as he comes in from the kitchen. “Dinner is in about fifteen minutes. That’s going to be the last game for now if you want to be fed.”

Cupid loses but he doesn’t seem to mind at all. He shrugs and shares a look with Jack before he gets up to pull Mills off the floor.

Dinner is easy. Bitty is there, and he always knows when to give Jack room to talk and when to lead the conversation away from him. By the time the two pies Bittle made are almost gone, Jack’s pretty sure that Reaper and Mills have at least decided that they love Bitty. Matty looks like he’s trying to hold out and failing, but his girlfriend Lana rolls her eyes at his attitude, so Jack decides to hope she has as much power over Matty as Bitty has over him.

Mills volunteers to help with clean up, saying that they should start the tournament without him so that they can decide who has to play him. Cupid goes with him.

“How happy are we that your kitchen is open so they can’t do anything?” Jeff asks, lowering his voice enough that it probably won’t carry into the kitchen.

Jack must look confused because Kent turns to him and Bitty.

“Mills definitely volunteered so he can show Cupid how he now knows to not just shove everything randomly in the dishwasher without rinsing anything,” Kent explains. “Bitty, I promise if he messes up any of your cookware, we’ll replace it.”

“I think it’s sweet he’s trying so hard,” Krystle says.

“I’m just happy he’s not sneaking his laundry into mine anymore,” Reaper says.

“And instead of using Mason and Emily to get out of dinner cleanup he’s now teaching them how to help,” Ty adds.

“Enough that you don’t mind overhearing the rewards he’s getting from Cupid?” Matty asks.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve tried to make him do his own laundry? Cupid can move in tomorrow if he wants. He’d have to actually clean instead of throwing everything in the closet like Cupid didn’t see the reality of his room before they started dating,” Reaper says.

“So, he really just wants to learn to cook to get laid,” Bitty says.

“No,” Kent says. “He really wants to put in effort so Cupid feels okay moving forward in the relationship when they’re ready. For sex to be a motivation, Cupid would have to say no to him about hooking up at some point ever.”

Jack laughs. He can relate to that. He’s never really one to say no to Bitty either. And if Bitty is the path to making Mills accept him, then he’ll take it.

Jack gets third in their video game tournament. At least he loses to Cupid instead of Mills. And Cupid seems to not mind losing to Mills considering Mills scores four of his goals with Cupid’s character. The game gives Cupid credit for hits instead of goals because it doesn’t expect the player use Cupid to score. Mills bugs Kent to call the game creators to change it with the update.

“You’re going to call them so much they won’t work with you next year,” Jack says.

“I helped them super-cheap. They owe me,” Kent says.

“Why? You don’t even like video games.”

Kent shrugs.

“So, he could make them put in stuff he wanted. But he’s not good enough to unlock it because they only agreed if they could make his requests really hard to unlock,” Mills says. “Then he told me. He knew I’d have to get good enough to unlock the stuff in his game before I screwed up and told everyone. So, he should tell them they need to give Cupid goal credit when he scores.”

Reaper laughs.

“Whatever, I’ll help you get better if you want,” Mills says to Jack. “Then you can help us unlock all the stuff.”

Jack doesn’t really care all that much about getting better at the game. He’s not so competitive that he’ll spend lots of his free time playing a video game just so he can beat the younger guys. But he does want Mills to like him and it’s a nice offer. It’s also the first real offer he’s gotten from anyone besides Kent and Tater to hang out outside of things that include the whole team.

“Yeah. Sure. Thanks,” Jack says.

Mills shrugs like it’s nothing, but Jack sees the hug Kent gives him a few minutes later when he thinks Jack isn’t looking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything I know about the NHL video game, I learned from YouTube. And as of posting this, I don't think much is out about NHL 19, so you know, maybe this will be what the new version is like, okay?
> 
> If you haven't seen the art from @omgpieplease that was added to American Dream and Shameless Night, you should go check it out!


	6. Chapter 6

Training camp isn’t awful, but it’s not great either. The Aces are professional. Some of the younger guys are even friendly. But Jack isn’t stupid. There’s tension. Everything is too professional. He trained with Tater and Rusher the later half of the summer because Tater insisted, but Rusher was never more than professional. It’s obvious that only Tater and Kenny ever chirp him the first two days. The only thing that makes him not regret his decision is that even with all the tension, no one reacts negatively to the pies he brings from Bitty. No one flinches or gives him weird looks when Bitty is mentioned. They might not like him, but it’s got nothing to do with his sexuality. And Bitty has nothing but good things to say about all the SOaPs. Apparently, even Matty’s girlfriend isn’t going to hold Matty’s grudge against Bitty.

The youngest guys are the easiest. They’re all nervous and the guys who just drafted are a bit shy with everyone. They pick up on the tension surrounding Jack, and Jack can tell they’re wary of him, but they’re also confused about it. Jack hears one of them point out that Jack’s signing took away Mills’ chance of making the first line and pushed Becker off it for sure. There’s not a lot of room for anyone new to make the roster as it is. The team started their rebuilding from the guys who retired three years ago, and aside from one disaster season of injuries, the extra time they spent developing younger guys in the minors has paid off. Kent’s prediction that this could be a Cup year isn’t ridiculous.

The third day of camp, Jack begs off Tater’s invite to get dinner with the rest of the guys.

“I want to get some extra work in,” Jack tells him.

“Yes, Coach approved it,” Jack adds when he sees that Tater is about to argue. Tater still looks like he wants to argue, but Mills pulls on Tater’s arm, and he goes. Kenny is in a meeting with Matty and some of the higher-ups, so Jack is free to go back to the ice. Kenny will already be at the restaurant before he figures out Jack isn’t there.

Except it turns out that he isn’t the only person looking to get extra practice. Jaime Ribera is still on the ice shooting pucks into the goal. Jack’s not too surprised. He’s nineteen, and he wants to make the roster. He played in the AHL playoffs after his junior team lost in their playoffs, and then he ended up playing a few minutes in each of the last few Aces playoff games after Reaper was out with a concussion. He’s good, but there’s going to be a few guys fighting for the last couple spots on the Aces roster. Jack watches him a bit before stepping on the ice with him.

“Hey,” Berry says. “Sorry. Parse said I could stay if I wanted. I didn’t know you were coming back.”

“I didn’t tell him,” Jack admits. “I just asked the Coach if I could get some extra work in.”

“I guess that’s why you’re so good,” Berry says with a shrug. “But you know Parse told everyone five times not to let you over-train.”

“First, he’s a hypocrite,” Jack says. “He has extra skates that he bought just because they hide his skates sometimes to make him rest.”  
Berry laughs.

“Second, I asked Coach at lunch, and he said it was fine,” Jack says.

“But you didn’t tell Parse, so he figured it was free for me.”

“I don’t need the whole rink,” Jack says. “Besides, I know Kenny. He probably found out and decided if he encouraged you, then he could pretend he wasn’t sending anyone to babysit me. We can run some drills, or I can leave if you want. I didn’t really have anything specific to do.”

“You came to get extra practice, but you don’t really care what you do?” Berry asks.

Jack shrugs.

“You’re avoiding dinner with the team,” Berry says.

“I figured they could use a break from me,” Jack admits.

“I mean, I’m not going to turn down the chance to run drills with you,” Berry says. “I can use all the help I can get.”

They spend an hour working on shots and passes and even face-offs. Jack worries that he’s over-stepping with his coaching. He’s not a leader on this team at all. But Berry listens intently and shows improvement, so he doesn’t stop. Berry checks his phone when they skate to the bench for water.

“Parse says to remind you that Coach told you no more than an hour and a half of extra work,” Berry says.

Jack shrugs.

“Can I ask what’s up with you and the team?” Berry says. “You don’t have to answer. But you should probably know that at least a few of us don’t get it. They didn’t send us a memo on whatever is going on and none of the rookies want to ask. We thought you and Parse and Tater were friends. And you were a free agent when you signed. And now it’s like you’re not sure you want to be here, and a lot of the vets aren’t sure about you. But Parse is obviously your friend. It’s weird.”

When Jack looks at him, Berry looks away.

“Sorry. It’s none of my business. And I’m thankful for all the help, I swear.”

“You’re not going to tell the press, right?” Jack asks.

“Of course not. I’m not stupid. If even Matty told the press that he thought you were a great addition to the team then none of the rookies are dumb enough to talk about it.”

“Kenny and I used to date. When we were in high school,” Jack says. It’s not like it’s a secret. He knows Kenny told a lot of the guys. “We’re friends now, but some of the guys still don’t like me.”

“They’re mad because you broke up with him? In high school?”

“It was complicated,” Jack says because that’s better than explaining that he never actually broke up with Kent. Not on his own anyway. Jack can see Berry think about it and remember what happened at the draft before he slowly nods.

“Anyway, some of them knew him right after, and it was hard on him.” Jack shrugs.

“Well, for the record, if he’s fine and obviously you introduced him to Tater, then it doesn’t matter to me, okay Zimms?” Berry says. “And seriously. Thanks for all your help.”

“We can do it again another day,” Jack says. “If you want.”

“Will Parse kill me for making you work extra?”

“If the Coach says it’s fine, he has to get over it,” Jack says. “But if you’re worried, I really don’t think Parse will get mad at you over it.”

“Then I’m not stupid. If you want to help, I’ll take all the help I can get.”

When they finish, and Jack checks his phone again, he suspiciously has no texts from Kent.

 **Jack:** You found out I asked Coach for extra practice time and sent Berry, didn’t you?  
**Kenny:** I did not “send” Berry.  
**Kenny:** I maybe said it was impressive that he wanted to practice extra and that it showed what a hard-worker he is.  
**Jack:** You can’t manipulate me into team bonding.  
**Kenny:** I did no real manipulating! You both decided on your own to train extra. I just didn’t stop him. If there was bonding, that was all up to you. : )

When Jack doesn’t answer him, Kenny texts again.

 **Kenny:** It wasn’t just about you. I know you. I know he hasn’t wanted to really ask for extra help or attention. I knew you’d offer because you’re going to coach as soon as you retire. You’re good at it and I knew you’d help.  
**Kenny:** He feels like he’s taking up too much of my time when I offer.  
**Jack:** Ok. Fine. But you could’ve just said that to me.  
**Kenny:** Sorry. I thought you might reject it and say I was trying to force you into team bonding. Which you already accused me of btw.  
**Jack:** Ok. Fair. Sorry. I know you’re trying to help. Everyone. Not just me.  
**Kenny:** So there was bonding, right? I will sic Mills on him. Mills can make anyone talk to him. You might as well just tell me.  
**Jack:** I said we could work on stuff again.  
**Kenny:** :D  
**Jack:** STOP.

***

Jack doesn’t play half the pre-season games. For him, they don’t really feel real. It’s not a question if he’ll make the roster. The only question is whether they’re sure about moving Kent from center back to right wing and giving center to Jack, or if they want to put Jack on the second line. The media makes a huge deal about it of course. Kenny gets so sick of being asked about it, that he starts to pick up some of the snarkiness he hasn’t shown since juniors.

The first time he’s asked, Kent gives a professional answer about how it isn’t up to him, and he trusts Coach Day to do his job.

By the last pre-season practice, his annoyance shows.

“I’d be ecstatic. It’s the best way to put us on the same line. I’d have Matty and Zimms on my line and it would probably be the best hockey I ever played. We’ll win a lot of games. We’ll prove to everyone that you win if you’re not a bigot. It’ll be amazing.”

After the interview, the Aces PR director just glares at Kenny.

“Parse? Really? You waited until we weren’t worried about you to do this?”

“It’s not like he was lying,” Matty says. Jack feels better even if Matty is only doing it for Kent.

“Jordan Matthews, you’re saying what we tell you,” Janet says. She pulls Matty aside and gives him directions about how he can support Kenny without making more of a mess.

Berry hugs Jack after he finds out that he made the roster though, and Jack’s sure that one is real.

***

Mills comes over with Kent, Jeff, and Berry the second day they have off between the pre-season and the regular season. Kent basically only shows up because if they don’t play on his system, then they don’t get further to unlocking his stuff, but Bitty said that wasn’t a good enough reason to bring everything he needed to Kent’s house to cook.

“Rusher made me come when he found out Bitty was teaching Mills to cook,” Berry says when Jack looks surprised.

“He burned the inside of Rusher’s microwave last night,” Kent says.

“Bits won’t mind,” Jack says. Berry’s a good kid, and he’s listened every time Jack’s worked with him. He’ll probably be easier for Bitty to teach than Mills.

Kent makes it through watching them play Xbox for less than five minutes before he wanders off into the house to find Bitty, and he doesn’t appear again until Bitty comes to collect the younger guys.

“You’re hanging around for this?” Jeff asks.

“I promised Mills I’d stay, and Tater is with Rusher. If I’m around, they just have to speak English and pretend they’re not kind of annoyed by it.

“Are you going to keep letting us beat your game?” Jack asks.

“I have my phone. And Mills says you’re getting close to unlocking the first thing.”

“Finally. I’m starting to get sick of looking at your jersey,” Jeff says. “And you obviously told him exactly what stuff he has to do to beat this. No one would play this random shit this long.”

“It’s totally worth it,” Kent says.

Two hours later, Jack says they have to take a break.

“We’re close, Mills made me promise to get him if we got this close,” Jack says.

“Seriously. What are we unlocking? If you made me play this much just so we can unlock playing as his dad, I’m going to be really annoyed,” Jeff says.

“You have to play as the Habs to unlock my dad,” Jack says. Someone figured it out online already.

“And your dad hasn’t bothered to try to unlock it because he only plays the game as you,” Kent says.

Bitty refuses to let Mills leave the kitchen until the lasagna he’s making is ready to come out of the oven. Apparently, Mills’ biggest issue in the kitchen is that he just gets bored and distracted to the point where he doesn’t hear the timers go off. Kent laughs and texts Cupid for Mills because Bitty refuses to let Mills near his phone.

“The boys made this entire dinner. Are we really going to let it get cold so you can finish the game?” Bitty asks. He also points out that if Mills helps with the salad, he can tell Cupid that he helped with everything. Mills rushes to follow him back to the kitchen. Kent and Jeff are too busy laughing so Jack has to let Cupid in the house. He’s been on this team officially for less than a month, and he’s already hosting a dinner party with no warning.

“This is nothing,” Jeff says. “But don’t worry. Even if you end up adopting Berry and having him around all the time, some of it will calm down once Kent and Matty decide which rookies can be left to their own defenses most of the time.”

Jeff and Kent make a show about asking Bitty over and over if he observed the entire process of making dinner while Mills glares at them. Cupid takes a serving without questioning though, so that seems to be all Mills cares about.

The food is good without being fancy. It reminds him of the days Bitty would decide it was his responsibility that the frogs had something resembling life skills before they became a lost cause like Holster. Jeff insists that the boys clean everything up before they can go back to the video game even though Jack can tell Kent is more impatient than anyone.

Mills takes his controller back and he plays with Jeff for another half hour before they unlock the next player.

It’s Jeff.

“Dude. Why did you make them do this? You’re literally the only person who will ever want to play as me.”

Kent shrugs.

“Maybe I missed being able actually kick your ass in the game.”

Jeff hugs him because they all know he means that he missed having Jeff in the game.

“So, there’s one more, right?” Cupid asks. “How long until we unlock Reaper? Can we tell him?”

“Not until you finish unlocking him on my system,” Kent says. “Ty will kill me if you guys have half the team over to her house just so Reaper can play as himself.”

Later, when everyone has finally cleared out of his house, Jack curls up in bed around Bitty with his head on Bitty’s chest.

“Thanks for today. I know I promised you that you’d have your own life here and not just be doing Aces stuff.”

“Honey, I _do_ have my own life. I have the show and my own friends. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to hang out with the other SOAPs of the Aces or that I mind helping out those boys. Lord knows they need it. Berry put foil in a microwave. And Mills is just adorable. And he doesn’t hate you. He’s already decided that.”

Jack opens his eyes to give Bitty a disbelieving look even though Bitty’s playing with his hair and that always makes him sleepy.

“He doesn’t. I think it’s actually the opposite. I think he’s decided he _wants_ to like you, but he thinks he has to be careful about it. And he was chirping Berry something awful about how Berry has your rookie jersey. Give the boys a chance. Kent might be right about you fitting in just fine.”

***

They don’t play the Schooners in pre-season, but Vegas plays them four times a year instead of the two times the Falcs played them. They play them for the first time in late September. Reaper spends extra time loitering around the team under the excuse of being media. On the day of the game, he pulls Jack aside after morning practice with a flimsy excuse.

“Look, I know Parse probably told you not to react to Curren, and you never reacted to him when you played in Providence.”

“But Tater can’t always be there as much as I am,” Jack finishes for him.

“You weren’t going to fight him for yourself, but you know how he is and you know what Sponsler did last year?”

Sponsler had been ejected from that first Schooners game last year after his fight with Tater, and he’d been out with injuries the next two times the Aces had played the Schooners. The fourth time, it was Kent and Tater who had been out of the game because they were sick and the Aces wanted to rest them before playoffs. Now it looked like they were finally all going to be on the ice again. Plus, there’s Jack. Jack isn’t officially out, but he hasn’t really been trying to stay in the closet either. It’s turned into a game for the players and the PR department to just avoid answering questions about it. Eventually, he’s going to just admit it like he assumed everyone knew all along, but he wants to prove himself more on the Aces first.

“If Sponsler looks at Kenny wrong, he’s going down,” Jack says.

“Parse didn’t order you to ignore them?”

“He told me to ignore Sponsler. I think he’s used to me ignoring Curren, so he’s just hoping that I will. I don’t think he really believes I’ll listen. He literally told both me and Tater at the same time.”

“I wish I could come back just for this damn game,” Reaper says.

“I know,” Jack says. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad I’m on the ice with him this year. And my parents flew in for this game. Plus, you know Jeff already got passes to go to the locker room and the trainer’s room for this game. And I think your family is sitting with my Dad. He said he bought the ticket for the seat right next to the visitor’s penalty box off you.”

Reaper laughs and nods.

The game is a mess. Curren pushes Tater until he drops gloves. Sponsler waits until then to start shit because clearly he doesn’t remember that Tater waited him out last time they played against each other. It doesn’t matter. He barely taps Kenny before Jack slams into him. It’s a legal hit. Jack isn’t stupid. He’s not getting taken out while Tater is already out unless Sponsler comes with him.

“Zimms,” Kenny says with warning as they move to start play again.

“I’m not letting him get to you,” Jack says. “So just get over asking me to. Also, even the coaches are on my side if it comes down to it.”  
Kent sighs and goes to take the face-off.

Sponsler does manage a hit on Kenny, but Jack doesn’t give him a chance to get more out of it. Jack grabs him. Sponsler starts off egging him on, but it’s stupid. It’s just as pointless as his fight with Tater the previous year. He probably just thinks he has a chance because Jack doesn’t fight very often. He doesn’t _like_ to fight. But it doesn’t scare him the way it scares Kenny, and he’s not just going to stand there while they try to beat Kenny up.

“Don’t fucking touch him,” Jack says as he’s pulled away. They’re telling him to stop as they pull him toward the box, but he doesn’t really care. What matters is Sponsler’s going to the box too. Even if they give Jack more time, Tater will be back out before Sponsler.

It’s a rivalry that’s been going on for years that no one understands the way the players do. People think Curren and Parse just didn’t like each other in Juniors and it escalated from there. They assume that Jack’s issues with him are the same. And then by the time Sponsler decided to prove he’s a homophobic dick, the rivalry between the teams was enough of a reason for everyone.

It’s not the last fight of the game. In the last period, they just send Jack and Sponsler back to the locker room. Tater finishes the game, but only because a sloppy line change puts Cupid on the ice with Curren instead. The Aces win, but that’s not what anyone is going to be talking about.

Reaper comes into the locker room before the game is over.

“They’re trying to look up rules for if they can actually kick out your Dad or give us a penalty for him,” Reaper tells him. “He’s chirping Curren through the glass, but he’s not delaying the game or anything so I don’t think they can do it.”

“If he gets a penalty, he’ll be calling all his old friends to brag about it,” Jack says.

Reaper laughs.

“We’re all glad you were out there, kid.”

***

Jack sneaks away from the rest of the team after practice two days later. Tater’s with a trainer to prove that his shoulder is fine, and Kent followed him even though he’s ignoring the bursitis in his knee that Jack knows has been bothering him. When Jack tried to bring it up, Matty just rolled his eyes and said, “Good luck. We do this every year for most of the year.”

He has the lunch that Bitty packed for him and takes it to an outdoor seating area on the top floor of the building. One of the guys on the cleaning staff told him they rent it out for events, but it’s always open, and Jack’s welcome to eat there when he wants. It’s usually empty because the team eats downstairs closer to the kitchen and the office staff takes lunch while the Aces are still practicing. Jack’s looking at his phone as he walks and doesn’t see Cupid until he’s already at his favorite table. He’s reading a book as he eats.

“Oh. Sorry. Usually no one’s here,” Jack says.

“It’s cool. Sometimes I just need a break from everything. Figures that you figured it out,” Cupid says and waves for Jack to sit down.

Jack nods. Cupid goes back to his book. It’s nice not eating alone and still getting a break from trying to make the guys like him. Eventually, Cupid’s phone alarm goes off to remind him that they’re due inside to go over tape in ten minutes.

“Mills knows I eat up here sometimes when I need space, so Parse probably does too,” Cupid tells him as they walk back in together. “But they’ll leave us alone when we want them to.”

“I don’t want to invade your space if you need it,” Jack says. He’ll miss it, but he also doesn’t want to bother one of the guys who’s always nice to him.

“You’re fine,” Cupid says with a laugh. “You get it instead of just trying to get it, but really wanting to talk the whole time.”

Jack nods. Yeah. He’s missed the time he used to spend in comfortable silence with Lardo.

“I know Parse can be over-bearing. He makes a show about complaining about Swoops and Reaper, but he’s ten times as bad as they are. It’s probably even harder for you to get away when he’s like that than the rest of us. If he’s really driving you crazy, text me and I’ll send Mills to occupy him. That’s what everyone else does.”

“Does he not figure that out?”

“He probably knows, but Mills gets away with it. Anyway, most of the guys text Mills. But he ignores them if I ask. He’ll also help if I ask him to.”  
Lunch with Cupid is nice after that. They cross paths about once a week and chat as they go back inside.

“Just a heads up,” Cupid says three weeks into the season. “Parse definitely knows where you are. He was worried about you disappearing, so Mills told him. He’ll leave us alone though.”

“Does he know you’re telling me this?” Jack asks. “He didn’t say anything to me about it.”

“He’ll probably find out,” Cupid says. “Is he as insufferable about you making friends on the team as Mills is?”

“He tries not to be. He knows I hate it.”

“So basically yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a Gimme More Chapter that is set in the middle of this so that might be the next update instead of a chapter because my life might be too busy to stick it in the middle. But also the next chapter is one of my favorites so I might want to put it out. I will if I have time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Kent**

The first game they play against the Falconers is in Vegas in October. Tater meets up with Snowy and Poots for dinner the night before, but Kent bails after they get an apology text from Bitty that Zimms isn’t going to make it. He texts Bitty after he’s already outside their house.

“He’s calmed down, but he’s tired,” Bitty says when he answers the door.

“I can leave if he wants me to,” Kent says. The last thing he wants is to push Zimms into another panic attack.

“No. I told him you were here. He wants to see you,” Bitty says. Kent’s a little surprised. He’s asked Jack about his feelings about this game, and all he got was an increasingly firm _it’s fine_. He’s pretty sure Zimms knows what Kent’s face looks like when he thinks Jack is full of shit without Kent having to say it aloud.

He’s surprised when Bitty leads him to the bedroom. The lights are on but dim, and Zimms sits up against the headboard when they come in. Kent sits cross-legged in front of him.

“Sorry you had to leave,” Zimms says. “You didn’t have to come.”

“First, don’t apologize for any of this. Second, they’re your friends and Tater’s friends. No one cared that I left. They’re worried about you, and I’m sure they all wanted to come, but they know you well enough not to.”

“I want to see them, but…”

“You don’t want to see everyone?”

“I don’t know,” Zimms says. “I don’t want to see Coach Leads, obviously. Well, I want to score three goals and then look at him. I don’t want to see Coach Williams. I played for him for two years and then he didn’t do anything when I needed him. I want to see the guys. Most of them, but I’m not ready. I’m not ready, and I have to be ready.”

Kent’s quiet for a few seconds as he tries to think of anything to say.

“You know a lot of those guys would leave if they could. But they can’t, and also, we kind of have a full team here.”

“I know.” Jack gives him a small smile.

“Can I ask some people to come over?” Kent asks.

“I’m dead and I look like shit. And I feel like shit.”

“The guys don’t care,” Kent says. Seriously. Zimms should know better.

“Don’t make Tater leave. He misses Snowy.”

“Yeah. Not Tater. I mean, he’ll want to come over if I ask him, but that wasn’t my plan.”

“Who?”

“Well, I’d text the chat, but literally twenty guys would show up, and Bitty would be mad I didn’t warn him.”

Zimms rolls his eyes.

“Half the guys still don’t like me.”

“That’s not true. You always think people don’t like you when they’re just still figuring out how to be friends with you.”

Zimms shrugs.

“Can you just trust me? You don’t have to if it’s too much. But if it’s something you can do, then trust me.” Kent asks. It’s a lot, he knows, and he’ll figure out some other way to help Zimms if that’s what Zimms needs. Ever since this mess started, the only thing good about it is that this time, Zimms is letting him help.

Zimms nods. Kent pulls out his phone and thinks a bit before he decides who to text.

 **Kent:** So Zimms is kind of freaking out about the game. He really needs to know the team has his back tomorrow. Can you guys come over to his house?  
**Mills:** At Cupid’s. Can he come, too?  
**Matty:** Your logic is that if that if we prove we have his back then then he’ll believe the rest of the team does.  
**Kent:** Yes. And you do, right?  
**Kent:** Mills, yeah. Just not more than Cupid. Too many of the guys would be overwhelming right now. He’s not feeling great.  
**Matty:** Are you really asking me that? That’s insulting.  
**Kent:** If I doubted you, would I have started with asking you to come over?  
**Matty:** Fair. On the way soon.  
**Mills:** Same.

“Okay. I invited two, but you’re getting three. Sorry. Certain members of our team are overly attached to each other.”

“So, you invited Cupid, and Mills is coming,” Zimms says. It’s not surprising. Cupid and Zimms hang out. Kent knows it’s a big reason Mills decided to start liking Jack. This mostly means Cupid and Zimms can be found eating or working or generally hanging out in the same vicinity while mostly not talking. It’s both not surprising and kind of creepy, but it makes sense to anyone who knows them.

“The opposite,” Kent tells him.

“Mills barely likes me.”

“Mills loves you. I think he just wants to give Cupid space. You’re the only friend on the team that Cupid didn’t make through Mills. He worries about Cupid not having friends of his own. I said you needed team support, and he didn’t hesitate. He just asked if Cupid could come, too. Cupid probably agreed because he’s your friend, and it made him worry. I know you think Cupid just started liking you because Mills started giving you a chance, but Cupid has his own mind. He doesn’t let Mills decide things for him. If anything, Mills started to like you and then liked you even more when he realized you managed to befriend Cupid and form your weird introvert club.”

“I should get up.”

“If you want. But personally, I think you should just sit here and be honest about being a disaster,” Kent says.

“I know we agreed I shouldn’t be a captain this year, but do you never want them to respect me enough for that?” Zimms asks.

“Matty has literally half-carried me out of a party and watched me drunkenly cry and ask for Jeff. I cried when I came out to Mills. I have watched both of them cry over girls. When I was a rookie, Reaper had a complete freak-out that he was going to be a horrible father because he couldn’t get Mason to stop crying, and he called me for help at 3am. You want them to respect you for you, not some kind of robot you think you need to be.”

“Says the guy who won’t cuddle Tater in the locker room.”

“Because it’s the locker room, and that’s weird. Also, it kind of gets us both out of sync professionally. Literally the entire team has been to my house at this point and seen me cuddle my husband wearing a pink tank-top, and if they think that makes me less of a hockey player they’re going to learn better the hard way.”

Zimms smiles.

“Two years ago, you were crying because you thought Tater wouldn’t like you if you wore a pink tank-top in front of him.”

“Yeah. And he made me do it so I could see how wrong I was. If it’s going to make you panic, get up and try to pretend you’re not a mess. But, I recommend being a mess. It’s Mills, Cupid, and Matty. They’re okay.”

“Matty doesn’t like me.”

“Matty’s being over-protective, but he will still get angry if anyone else picks on you besides him.”

“Kent Parson, you are supposed to tell me if you invited guests to my house!” Bitty yells a few minutes later.

“They don’t count as guests!” Kent yells back right as Mills pokes his head in the door.

“Don’t tell him that. I’m hungry,” Mills says. He comes in the room with Cupid trailing behind.

“He’s hungry because I told him he had to cook every once in a while, and in his defense, he tried,” Cupid says. “On that note, I’m also hungry. Let Bitty feed us.”

Mills climbs on the bed without an invitation and leans against the headboard next to Jack.

“My lack of cooking ability is not important right now. We’re supposed to be here for Zimms.”

Cupid rolls his eyes, but he comes over and sits next to Kent anyway.

“We’re going to kick their asses,” Cupid says. “Especially if they mess with you. That’s like literally my job, or it was before Parse decided I was too good for that. But you know, he’ll probably not bitch at me too much if I do it.”

“You know I can fight,” Zimms says, but he smiles.

“Yeah, but we need you to play,” Mills says. “And protect Parse because we know he can’t fight. Why didn’t you ever teach him how to fight?”

“I tried,” Zimms says and then because he seems to think Kent should be embarrassed with him adds, “He got scared, and I felt bad for scaring him, so I couldn’t do it anymore. Kenny hates fighting.”

“Why am I trying to make you feel better?” Kent says.

“Because you don’t want me to have a panic attack on the ice?”

“Wrong,” Matty says as he comes in the room. “We’re trying to make you feel better because this is shitty, and we’re your team.”

Matty turns to Kent and says, “Bitty says if anyone else shows up, and you don’t warn him, he’s feeding all of us and not you.”

Kent shrugs. It’s such an empty threat anyway. Matty looks at the bed with four hockey players and rolls his eyes before getting the chair in the room and moving it to Zimms’ side of the bed.

“Just for reference. If you have a panic attack tomorrow, and Parse isn’t there for some reason, how do _we_ help you?” Matty asks. Matty getting an A on his jersey last year was way overdue in Kent’s opinion.

Zimms looks at Kent, and Kent nods.

“Usually it helps if you put my hand on your chest so I feel it when you breathe,” he hesitates but when Matty nods, he finishes. “And then you direct me to take breaths with you until it’s over.”

“Does that ever not work?” Matty asks.

“Sometimes. Sometimes if it’s bad, I just have to wait until it’s over.”

Matty nods.

“Do you want us to sit with you or hug you or anything if that happens?” Mills asks.

Zimms looks surprised, but he answers.

“You can put your arm around me if you want, and I’ll be able to let you know if it’s something I want then or not. It kind of varies if it’s not Bitty.”

“Cool,” Cupid says. “Good to know just in case. But also, you literally have over twenty guys who are going to be with you. If you start to get to that point, you should tell someone before it gets that bad.”

“You should be worrying about the game, not me.”

“We’re all doing both whether you like it or not,” Matty says. “Seriously. This isn’t just playing your old team. This is shittier. We know that. We’re going to try to kick their asses for you, but if we don’t, it doesn’t matter. They’ll fly back to Providence, you’ll stay here with us, and we’re awesome. Then we’ll fly there next week, and get through that. And then we can ignore them for a year. Because they made some dumb choices based on dumb things, and they’re not making it to the fucking playoffs with us.”

Jack nods and Kent sees his eyes are watery before he looks down. He probably doesn’t want to cry in front of Matty because he doesn’t know Matty like Kent does. Matty just looks at Kent for direction. Mills shifts next to Zimms like he’s going to go for a hug, but Cupid waves him off before Kent has the chance. Cupid just puts a hand on his knee instead, reading the cues from Zimms without Kent’s help at all, so Kent holds back and lets Zimms get himself together.

“Pretty sure we’re going to win though. They’ve kind of sucked a lot. And if anyone can score on Snow, it’s you and Tater,” Kent says. “And every time we play for fun with any of these guys, they ban us from being on the same side. We’re going to kick their asses.”

***

**Jack**

They’re in the Aces’ stadium before the Falconers of course. Not the Aces’ stadium. _Their_ stadium. _Jack’s_ home stadium. He wonders when the Aces’ stadium and practice facility will start to feel like home.

Kenny and Tater stay next as much as they can in the morning skate and that doesn't change when they come to the arena for the game. He’s not surprised about them. He’s surprised it’s not just Kenny and Tater. And well, Berry and Cupid are often hanging out with him, so that’s not too noticeable. He still thinks it’s weird to call rookies your kids, but he can’t pretend Berry isn’t his favorite. It’s always at least one of them, but when one of them has to go somewhere, someone else shows up. Mostly Matty and Mills. But Hammer hangs around extra, and even Becker and Scraps follow him around more than normal. At least he’s used to Berry kind of following him around.

“Did you tell them to do this?” Jack asks when it’s finally just Kenny and Tater again.

“No. I mean, I’m surprised you’re putting up with me and Tater as much as you are. But the guys are worried about you. Cupid’s your friend, and he’s trying to stick with you so he can make the other guys give you space if you need it. And Mills doesn’t surprise me at all. He loves you. He’s worried, and he doesn’t know how to help so he’s just trying to distract you from thinking about it by being annoying. It could be worse. I’ve literally watched him poke Cupid in the arm repeatedly until Cupid talked to him.”

“I can’t even keep up with him half the time,” Jack admits. “But seriously?”

“And Matty’s a good captain and a good guy.”

“He’d be the most subtle if I didn’t know he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Kent says. “And look, if the guys are making you more stressed out, I’ll get them to back off a little. Sorry. That’s just kind of how we are. I blame Reaper and Swoops. They’ve left a legacy of extreme hovering. Seriously, the guys who were young and stayed here are just used to it. You’re not the first older guy who’s come here and thought our team was kind of weird. Carly and Teller were each here three years and they thought it was weird the entire time. I’m sure it’s not just our team, but yeah. It’s not just you. I promise.”

“Seriously?” Jack thinks maybe he should be insulted that he’s apparently the weakest link that everyone has to protect right now, but he _feels_ like the weakest link, so it’s kind of nice.

“Why do you think everyone sees your over-protective bullshit with me and just kind of doesn’t mention it? I swear. You’re worse than Tater, and you’re not supposed to be doing that shit. Reaper loves it. You’re making Cupid worse because you encourage him. He’s four years younger than me, and he’s turning into Reaper 2.0.”

Jack laughs. It’s not a lie.

“You need me to tell them to back off?” Kent asks.

“No. It’s okay,” Jack says because he doesn’t want to drive them away if they’re starting to care about him.

“Okay. We all have your back Zimms. We all want to win this for you.”

The thing is, Jack wants to win. He really, really wants to win and prove to everyone the Aces made the right choice. But that’s not the part that hurts. Winning is all about the management, and they aren’t even in Vegas.

What hurts is that there are guys on the Falconers that he doesn’t know because it’s not _his_ team anymore. He’s talked to some of the guys since the end of the last season, but some of them just kind of disappeared. Now those guys are across from him, and he can’t just ignore them and pretend it doesn’t hurt. Coach Williams won’t make eye contact with him. He can’t go over after Poots skates off the ice at warmups looking a bit rough because it’s not his place. It’s going to be even worse in a week when they have to fly to Providence, and he has to go to the visitor’s locker room. He wants to win but that means he has to score on Snowy, and he doesn’t want to score on Snowy. It’s all fucked up.

“Hey,” Kenny says as he claps his hand on Jack’s shoulder after warm-up. “You’re doing really well.”

“I don’t feel like I am,” Jack says. “I nearly lost it when I saw Williams and game hasn’t even started.”

“But you didn’t lose it. You’re okay,” Kent says.

Jack nods. If there’s anything last night taught him, it’s that he’s in the right place now. It still doesn’t feel right. It feels weird and awkward just like Samwell felt the first few months. But it feels like it could feel like home if he tries to let it. Right now, Kenny feels like home, and his parents are at the game for him. And everyone from Samwell sent supportive texts.

“I can do this,” he says aloud because it helps.

***

They win. It’s not even a close win. The coach never puts him on the ice without Kenny and he can always find Kenny on the ice when he needs him. No one fights.

Seeing the guys after the game is awkward a few times, but several of the guys ask him how he’s doing, and they seem genuine.

“I’m good. I miss you guys, but I’m good,” he answers honestly.

***

**Kent**

Kent’s been mostly sitting with Matty on the plane since Jeff retired. Everyone was surprised at first. They expected him to sit with Tater and room with Tater. But Kent already lives with Tater and trains with him during the season and most of the time Tater is on the ice with him. There’s only so much togetherness they need. They’ve made a few exceptions, but mostly Kent is happy to have some time with Matty. Tater mostly sat with Rusher his first year on the team, and Rusher didn’t complain when Tater ditched him to sit with Zimms at the beginning of the year.

They’re playing Providence again in the middle of a long roadie right after they play the Habs. It means Jack can get permission to sleep at his parents’ house one night, and he’s already at the airport before the team the next day.

“Your dad’s already gone?” Berry asks when they find Zimms near the gate. He’s young enough that Bad Bob is exciting to him—which is probably why Bob and Alicia left for Providence on an earlier flight.

Zimms nods and humors him because no matter what Zimms tries to say, Berry is definitely his rookie. Just like Kent suspected he would, Zimms saw the way he worked to make the team in training camp and adopted him.

Tater hugs Zimms and sits next to him while they wait to board the plane. Kent can see Tater lean close to ask how he’s feeling. Zimms just shrugs. Last year, when they went to Providence, and Tater played his old team, Tater was nothing but excited. He was excited to see his old friends and show his new friends around. They didn’t know yet how bad it was for Zimms because he didn’t want Tater to feel bad about leaving. Tater left on good terms. Zimms didn’t.

“You can sit next to him on the plane if you want,” Matty says. “I’m not an ass. This sucks for him. You can even pretend it’s just a captain thing for you to help him even though we all know it’s way more than that.”

Kent thinks about it before he smirks and says okay, Zimms could probably use a captain right now.

Which is why Kent grabs Alexei and pushes him into a window seat before sitting next to him once they get on the plane.

“I’m tired. I sleep better on him,” Kent says when Matty stares at him.

Berry offers to switch when Matty realizes the only seat left is next to Zimms. Matty isn’t mean to Zimms exactly, but the guys aren’t stupid.

“Don’t bother. It’s fine,” Matty says. Kent assumes he knows Kent well enough that he knows Kent’s not going to let that happen.

Later, after Matty’s in his seat, but while the crew is still getting ready for take-off, Kent hears him say much quieter, “you know if you actually ask him to switch with me, he will. He’s not going to push his point if you need him right now. Or Tater or whatever. No big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Zimms says.

They don’t talk as the flight attendants get ready for take-off, and it stays that way until breakfast has been served. Kent’s starting to think his plan failed, and he should just ask Matty to switch because he _does_ want to know how Zimms is doing.

“So, um, are you feeling better or worse about this game than last time we played them?” Matty asks finally. Kent’s asked the same thing and gotten mostly shrugs.

“Both?” Jack says after a few moments.

“Okay. Uh, what does that mean?” Matty asks. He glances at Kent with a pointed look that clearly says, _see, I’m trying_. Kent pretends he’s not paying attention. Jack’s been blowing off both him and Alexei when they bring up the subject, but Kent knows Jack wants Matty to like him. Also, he doesn’t want Zimms to refuse to talk to anyone on the team until he has a panic attack again.

“Seeing the guys and playing them will be easier. I think…I think that’ll be less weird at least,” Zimms says.

“So, what’s worse?”

“The stadium, the Falconer stuff everywhere, the whole city. It felt like home, and now it’s there, and it’s not my home anymore. It’s just going to hurt more than being in Vegas. Last time I was there, my face was still on a fucking billboard.” Zimms laughs sadly. “Can you imagine going to the stadium in Vegas and going to the visitor locker room?”

“Yeah, okay,” Matty says. “That would suck so much.”

“Yeah,” Zimms says.

“Vegas is at least starting to feel better though, right?”

Zimms shrugs. They’ve had this argument. Vegas is crazy, and not Jack’s style. He says Bitty likes it. He knows Kent loves it. And really, the area they live in right outside the city isn’t crazy. He just needs to get used to it.

“Okay. Fair. Vegas is crazy. But the team. It’s going okay. I think most of us just think of the team as our home. And we’re basically not famous in Vegas so we can do whatever we want,” Matty says.

Zimms turns to Matty and raises his eyebrows.

“What?” Matty says. “We’re totally like a family. I had no say in you coming here, and now everyone says that I have to be nice to you because we’re related. And now Parse is forcing us to sit together when he knows I can’t be mean to you right now because I’m not that much of a jerk.”

“Probably what he’s counting on,” Zimms says, but he laughs so Parse counts it as a win anyway.

“I know you were an only child, so maybe you don’t get it. But this is basically like we’re siblings now. Which is disturbing because there’s absolutely no situation in which Parse is more mature than me. He’s the younger sibling I like, and you’re like the one I have to like even though I told my parents not to bring you home from the hospital.

But you know, I still have your back and all that shit. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have gone along with Parse’s trick to make us sit together.”

Zimms laughs again.

“Yeah. I hate that it worked, and I’m definitely getting back at him,” Matty says louder than before.

Kent pretends he’s sleeping.

“Did he ever tell you what he did to me when we had our winter formal at boarding school?” Zimms asks a few seconds later.

“Funny. That has never come up,” Matty says.

“Zimms! You know what? One of us is switching seats.”

“Seat belt sign on,” Alexei says and pulls Kent closer. “I thought you were tired.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to try to get revenge on me for that ten years later,” Kent says. He makes a show up trying to get up again, but Alexei can tell he’s not really mad about being held down so it’s pointless.

“Pretty sure that you told me I couldn’t wander around the plane for my own safety,” Mills says from where he and Cupid are sitting behind Zimms and Matty.

“I take it back. Please continue to be weird and bitchy to Zimms,” Parse says, but he relaxes in Alexei’s arms. The winter formal story isn’t that bad anyway. Zimms will cut out the worst parts for him.

***

**Jack**

The plane lands in Providence and Jack avoids looking out the window. This airport used to mean coming home to Bitty. Instead he texts Bitty that they landed because Bitty is in Vegas for work. They’re supposed to head to practice from the airport and then settle in the hotel after. It’s what makes the most sense with their schedule since Coach Day thinks they need practice today, but he’s not looking forward to an extra day in the Falconer’s practice facility. He was hoping they’d get a day to rest. Maybe Coach thinks he’ll have a clearer head tomorrow if they rip the band-aid off early.

“We should sit on the bus together just to fuck with him,” Matty says as they start getting their stuff together to get off the plane.

Jack laughs and agrees. They’re probably not going to be best friends now, but he’s starting to think being the least favorite brother isn’t the worst thing.

Coach Day waits until they’re all on the bus to announce that he’s decided they deserve a bit of a break even if he still wants them skating today. They’re skipping practice at the Falconers rink and going somewhere else that Tater recommended. It’ll be a longer ride, but they’re going to finish practice by letting some of the locals join them on the ice after practice, so it’ll be fun, and PR will get footage.

Jack tries not to react. It’s obvious this isn’t just a chance to unwind and have team-bonding. This is for him. This is to save him having to go to the Falconers rink.

“Hey. Let us do shit for you. It’s not like this team never does stuff for anyone else,” Matty says. “Don’t make it a bad thing.”

“Whose idea was this?” Jack asks. “Kenny or Tater?”

“I think it went through Kent because no one would throw things at you without asking him, but I honestly don’t know who originally thought of it. You’ll have fun though,” Matty says.

“Is there more to this than just going somewhere else?” Jack asks when he catches Tater’s excited grin. He tries to smile back because he doesn’t want Tater to feel bad.

“I’m under strict orders to not tell you unless you start panicking. Don’t make me ruin the surprise unless I have to,” Matty says.

“Am I the only one who isn’t in on this?”

“Nope. Just captains, coaches, some of the older guys and Mills and Cupid because Mills has to be in Parse’s business. And half the team is low-key afraid of Cupid when he decides to be scary overprotective of someone, and he’s expanded that to you. Seriously. Let your team do something for you and don’t bitch about it. And we didn’t tell your fiancé, so don’t make him freak out and yell at us.”

Jack sighs because that was going to be his next question. He’d feel better if Bitty knew if there was some weird surprise to try to distract him from how much this sucks. But Kenny knows what they’re doing, and he’s been pretty good about knowing what will help Jack and what won’t, so Jack decides to just text his dad instead.

 **Jack:** Did Kenny tell you what this surprise they are doing for me is?  
**Papa:** He didn’t. I know nothing. Do you want me to ask him? What’s going on?  
**Jack:** We’re practicing somewhere else and then doing some PR thing instead of just going to practice in the Falconers rink. It’s obviously some surprise for me to try to make things better.  
**Jack:** I don’t like special treatment. I don’t really like attention like this.  
**Jack:** But don’t text him. That’ll make it worse.  
**Papa:** Ok. I won’t text him.  
**Papa:** But try to give it a chance. Is it just his doing?  
**Jack:** Matty says he doesn’t know whose idea it was really, but that all the coaches and a few of the players were in on it.  
**Papa:** Son, you know I worried about Kenny so much when he went down there, and I can tell you that team rallied around him more than I ever hoped. And from what he told me, they’ve done things for more players than just him.  
**Papa:** Maybe give them a chance to do it for you if they want to. Maybe it won’t be so bad. Switching teams is hard for anyone, but it’s harder if you fight it.  
**Jack:** I know. I’m trying.  
**Papa:** And I’ll come after them if they mess with you.  
**Jack:** Thanks but also, don’t. Please.  
**Papa:** I know kid. I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.  
**Jack:** You guys don’t have to come. I told you that.  
**Papa:** You want me to tell Bitty that we aren’t going after he couldn’t go?  
**Jack:** Ok. Fine. You have to come.  
**Papa:** :’D

“Are you going to be offended if I try to take a nap since we’re going to be on the bus for like an hour now?” Jack asks after he puts his phone away.

“Nah. I’ll even let you pretend you’re napping when you’re really just trying to avoid things, Zimmermann,” Matty says.

Jack doesn’t bother answering. He just puts on his headphones and closes his eyes. He’s still awake when Matty nudges him.

“We’re here,” Matty says when he takes off his headphones.

They’re at Faber. They drove all the way to Samwell to have practice at Faber for him. He looks over at Kenny and Tater. Tater looks excited. Kenny looks a little nervous like Jack would ever be mad about this. Jack smiles so he doesn’t have to worry about it and the Aces start getting up without any big announcement. There’s plenty of chatter, but everyone knows he went to Samwell. Anyone who needed an explanation is clued in quickly.

Jack’s jersey and picture are hanging in Faber, so the Aces chirp him and several of them take their phones out to mock him on social media. The locker room is empty when they get there, but it’s already set up for them with things moved around so there’s space for them to use the home locker room. It’s kind of ridiculous. They should be using the visitor’s locker room so the Samwell team didn’t have to accommodate them. But then, they’re not trying to work with their full set up for this practice either. Jack’s name is on his old stall, but everyone else is random. The team quiets down a bit as he walks over to the stall.

“This is ridiculous, but thanks guys,” Jack says.

“One of our guys talked to the manager. She was happy to help,” Coach Day says.

The Aces have the first hour to themselves. They do still have to have practice. It feels like coming home to be in Faber in the afternoon with the light coming through the windows. It’s a good practice. They work, but the mood is light and that’s the last thing it would’ve been in Providence.

After an hour, the Samwell team shows up with Ford and their coaches. Of course, the seniors and juniors know Jack because of Bitty. Jack makes sure to skate to the edge to thank Ford for helping along with Hall and Murray. Then they spend an hour with the Samwell team that’s a mix of playing around and giving out tips. Toward the end, there’s commotion and Jack turns to see Shitty skating out with Ransom and Holster. He knew they were planning to come to the game, but they had to get off work early for this.

“It was easy,” Holster says when Jack questions him. “We promised our boss autographs. If Parse refuses, I have so much blackmail I could use even if I only told you.”

Parse checks him but agrees easily. Eventually Coach Day orders them off the ice because they have a game the next day, but he says they can hang around the college for another hour if they want before going back to the bus. They end up taking over a huge section of Jerry’s. At least Ford warned the restaurant in advance. Coach Hall tells the entire team how angry Jack was when they put Bitty on his line. He’s never going to live that one down.

“Good surprise?” Kenny asks when they’re finally walking back to the bus.

“Yeah. Thanks. It helped a lot. It was a good idea,” Jack says.

“Wasn’t actually my idea. I just agreed with it and helped make it happen,” Kent says.

When Jack looks at Tater a few steps away, Kent shakes his head and waves Mills over.

“This whole thing was actually Mills’ idea,” Kenny says resting his hands on Mills’ shoulders as he says it. Mills shrugs and looks away.

“It was just an idea. I thought it might help so I asked Parse,” Mills says without really looking at him.

“It did. Help, I mean,” Jack says. “Thanks. It meant a lot to me.”

Mills shrugs again, and Jack thinks he’s going to leave it at that, but they’re stopped by the bus now and instead of moving away, Mills hugs him. Jack hugs him back and tries not to show how surprised he is. Mills pulls back and shrugs again.

“We’re a family,” Mills says. “We all wanted to help.”

Mills turns rushes onto the bus before Jack can say anything about that.

“See. I told you he liked you,” Kent says.

***

**Kent**

Kent has had his own room on the road since Jeff left. The Aces only require rookies to have roommates, but they encourage anyone who’s new to the team to have a roommate, and half the guys like sharing rooms enough that they do it by choice for a while after they have to. The coaches or management get involved if there’s a problem that effects the team, but mostly they leave sorting out rooms to the older guys. The only time Kent has objected to room preferences not involving rookies was to separate Cupid and Mills before games. He loves them, and he’s not going to separate them on the plane, but Mills never liked to go to sleep on time when all they were doing was sleeping. The older guys take turns rooming with Mills before games because Cupid can be trusted to just sleep, but he can’t be trusted to say no to Mills when Mills whines and pouts at him. Matty’s on his own tonight because Rusher is with Mills. Kent goes to Matty’s room after he leaves Zimms and Tater to settle in their room.

Matty rolls his eyes when he opens the door, but he lets Kent in anyway. Kent jumps at him and wraps him in hug instead of saying anything.

“You’re ridiculous,” Matty says. “Your manipulations are stupid and predictable, and no one believes any of your shit. Maybe Berry. But only for about two more weeks. All I did was sit with him on the plane and the bus. And I basically used the entire the bus ride back from Samwell to chirp him.”

“You’re the best best friend ever,” Kent says.

“Did you drink while we weren’t looking?” Matty asks even though he knows better. They have a game tomorrow.

Kent lets him go and steps back.

“No, but I figured I should say it to you sober for this.”

“Thanks,” Matty says. He walks back to the bed in the room and lies down with his legs hanging off the bed. Kent lies down next to him.

“Seriously, though. Thanks. He’s been blowing me off. I thought maybe he’d talk to you because it’s easier to not answer my questions. And I don’t want him to have panic attack at the very last minute again. Bitty’s not here this time.”

“Reaper’s right. He’s hard to hate when he’s just sad like this,” Matty says.

“You know everything that happened before wasn’t all his fault.”

Matty nods. They’ve been over the basics when Kent started talking to Zimms again, and then more once Zimms signed with the Aces.

“And there’s no way he could ever replace you. You’re the only friend I have who is just my friend, and not some other weird complicated shit. I love Swoops, but he still forgets I’m an adult. Reaper will never acknowledge that I’m an adult, and everyone else expects me to be their captain. And well, Zimms is Zimms.”

He leaves out that Bitty will ditch him if it ever comes down to a choice between Zimms and Kent. That’s okay and everyone knows it. Kent doesn’t really see that happening now, anyway. Plus, in all fairness, Alexei was Zimms’ friend first and now he’d definitely stay with Kent if it came down to it.

“I know. It’s just, you’re my best friend too, you know?” Matty says. “Though once I figured out he was your ex, I was way less offended that you went to that party and got drunk without telling me. It was easier to think you fucked us over for an ex-boyfriend than think you cared about your old best friend more than me.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you then,” Kent says.

“I suspected then. I just wasn’t sure.”

“When did you figure it out? Reaper and Mills told me when they did, but I’ve never really asked most of you guys.”

“I heard what Curren said to you when Reaper did, so I started questioning then,” Matty says. “But then you were all over college girls all summer. Then there was that one frat guy. Wait, was he a thing?”

“No. I was trying to make Zimms think he might be. I thought maybe it would get his attention. But that guy ended being a homophobic dick actually.”

“He looked like one,” Matty says. “Anyway, the thing with Zimms made me wonder. And the shit Curren said. And you never really reacted to girls. You’d sometimes make it look like you were picking up, but I knew you weren’t. And you didn’t date. And my sister told me she avoided using pronouns a long time because she didn’t want to lie to me directly, so sometimes I’d catch you doing that.”

Kent nods.

“I really wish I would’ve told you sooner.”

“You weren’t ready, but it would’ve been fine,” Matty says. “Even before Andi came out to me. I would’ve been fine, but I get that you were scared.”

Matty’s phone lights up with a text.

“Rusher wants to know if I know where you are,” Matty asks after he reads it.

“Is it an emergency?” Kent says.

“Mills has candy and is on a sugar rush.”

“It’ll wear off, and he’ll crash in like two hours. This is almost a good thing,” Kent says.

“Yeah, he’s just driving Rusher crazy in the meantime.”

“Tell him you’ll find me if Mills starts asking for me. That’s not actually a lie.” Kent loves Mills and he’s so proud of him for helping Zimms, but Kent is also exhausted. Rusher can handle Mills as long as he’s just being annoying.

“Yeah,” Matty agrees.

“At least take your pants off and get in the bed if you’re going to pass out here,” Matty says when Kent starts to doze off. Kent nods and strips to his t-shirt and boxer briefs and crawls in bed while Matty laughs at him. Mostly Matty likes to have his own room, but he never cares if Kent crashes with him either. 

***

**Jack**

“You can go see the guys if you want. You have time,” Jack tells Tater as soon as Kenny leaves their hotel room. They still have a few hours before curfew.

“I see tomorrow,” Tater says. “Is fine.”

“I’m okay,” Jack says. It’s mostly true. He felt great the whole way back from Samwell.

“Yes, but Kent worry if I leave. So, I stay. Tired anyway. College wear me out.”

Jack doesn’t argue because he thinks it’s probably not a complete lie. They’re watching TV when Tater looks up from a text and laughs.

“Mills eat too much candy. Rusher says he drive him crazy. Matty not tell him where Kent is. Kent not answer his texts.”

“Should we worry about where Kent is?”

“No. Matty text me he’s just tired and sleeping early. Not good reason to wake him up.”

“Yeah. He’s been stressing for me about all this shit.”

“He worry. Is okay. Over tomorrow and we go home.”

Jack nods and tries to go back to the book he brought. He can’t concentrate on the book any more than he can pay attention to the TV.

“Rusher ask if he and Mills come over. Need to spread the energy around he says. Thinks letting him see Cupid just make Cupid not rest.”

“And they want to hang out here?” Jack asks. Of course, he knows Mills loves Tater, but he assumed everyone else was ready for a break trying to cheer him up.

“Is up to you. Rusher says will be good for Mills to distract you, but he just want help.”

Jack shrugs. He’s tired, but he also doesn’t want to be alone with his thoughts.

“They can come over.”

***

All the numbers say the Aces should beat Providence easily. The Aces are currently sixth in the league and the Falconers are twenty-eighth. But the first period passes without a goal. Half-way through the second, Poots gets the puck past Cenzar. No matter what the Aces try, Snowy is a like a wall. Even after they pull Cenzar in the third period, nothing works. The game ends without any more goals. Jack is on the ice when the third period ends, and he catches Snowy’s eye. He looks sorry for fucking winning. And Jack _knows_ it’s not Snowy’s fault that this hurts so much, but he still doesn’t want anyone’s pity. He turns away and skates off the ice as fast as he can. There’s no way the cameras aren’t on him and he needs to get away from them before he falls apart. At least he knows the stadium well enough to detour away from everyone quickly.

It’s unprofessional and Jack knows that. They’re going to want him to do press and he should be mature and professional and ready to pretend that he’s fine. Instead he’s hiding in a storage room because too many people know to find him at the loading dock. He sits on the floor and throws off his helmet. He just needs to get himself together before he goes back to the locker room. He needs to stop the tears that are mixing with the sweat on his face. He needs to be able to act normal. Fuck. He just needs to be able to breathe.

The door opens behind him, but he doesn’t look up as two people come in and sit on either side of him. He wants them to be Kenny and Tater, but there’s no way. They have to be doing press if he disappeared. Even Kenny has to know that it’ll be more of a mess if he runs off after Jack. Someone puts a hand on his shoulder, but no one says anything.

“Coach will tell the press you’re with a trainer,” Mills says after a few minutes. “So, there’s going to be all kinds of rumors that you’re injured, but don’t worry about skipping out.”

Jack nods. A few more minutes pass before there’s a knock on the door. Jack looks to the left just enough to see Cupid get up and go to the door to talk to someone. He comes back a few seconds later, hands something to Mills, and sits back down next to Jack. Jack looks up when he hears something hit the floor next to him and sees that Cupid has dropped his slides. Cupid and Mills are taking off their skates, so Jack sighs and starts unlacing his own. Whoever brought their slides must’ve brought Cupid his phone because he’s reading texts as Jack gets his skates off.

“Hammer says your dad is in the locker room because he couldn’t find you,” Cupid tells him. “You probably have about a minute before Rick gets back there and tells him where we are.”

Rick is one of their equipment managers. Jack assumes he must be who Cupid spoke to at the door. Jack likes him well enough, but he’s glad Cupid didn’t let him in. It’s bad enough that his teammates have to see him like this.

Jack shrugs. At least he knows both Jeff and Reaper are probably more embarrassing for Parse than Bob will be right now. His dad will at least try to not embarrass him too much.

It’s another few minutes before the door opens again. Jack can recognize his father’s steps without looking up. Cupid and Mills get up silently and each pat him on the shoulder before gathering all of their skates and leaving.

“You played well,” Bob says. “You know that. Everyone knows that. Everyone played well out there. Sometimes it’s just not enough.”

Jack nods as his papa sits next to him and wraps an arm around his shoulders. He lets himself cry into his father’s chest until he’s doesn’t have anything left.

“It’s one game, and it’s over. And you have the rest of this season to keep pushing.”

Jack nods and when Bob asks if he’s ready to get up, he takes a deep breath and pulls away.

“Kenny says it’s safe to go back to the locker room and get showered. I’ll tell Eric I checked on you and you’ll call him as soon as you can,” Bob says as they leave the room. To Jack’s surprise, Mills and Cupid are still in the hallway.

“Dude. We were not going to go back and tell Parse we left without you,” Mills says. “I know what he looks like when he’s freaking out and giving the media his fake professional face.”

“One of the Falconers came by,” Mills adds as they start walking back to the locker room. “But I told him that if he somehow got past Cupid, he’d just find Bad Bob, so he ran away.”

Jack smiles even though he still feels like shit. He’ll find out who that was later. There’s only a few people in the hall as they make their way to the locker room, but with Cupid on one side and Mills and his dad on the other side, no one bothers him or stops them. Bob pulls him into one last hug at the door and says his goodbyes. He promises to talk Jack’s mom out of booking a flight to Vegas to meet him there. Part of Jack wants to tell both his parents to take him home with them, but he knows what his dad will say. Stay with his team. Lean on his team. Give them a chance to go through this with him.

Most of the guys are already in suits, but the ones he passes pat him on the back as he walks by and starts stripping off his gear. He showers quickly even though it’s clear no one is going to hurry him, and Cupid and Mills are just as late getting to the shower as he is. The sooner he changes, the sooner he can get out town and forget the Falconers for another year.

Kenny sits next to him on bus to the airport.

“The guys all really wanted to win this for you,” Kenny says. “But we’re still going to make it to the playoffs and they aren’t, so fuck them.”

Jack gives him small smile and nods.

“I know you, so I know you’re not blaming anyone except yourself, but if you could tell Cenzar it’s not his fault, he’d maybe feel better. He thinks he let you down,” Kenny says.

“That’s stupid. He saved every other shot,” Jack says.

“We’re a team,” Kenny says. “Like I said, we all wanted to win this for you. I think we might actually have a Falconers rivalry now. Everyone wanted to beat them when we played against each other the first time, but we did beat you guys then, so it was easier.”

“Asshole,” Jack says, but he laughs and shoves Kent.

“Also, use the ten minutes we’re waiting at the airport to call Bitty. Alexei and I each have over ten texts from him. We texted him back and so did your dad, but he already told me you only texted him and said I better make you call him. I’ll make the guys leave you alone to call him if you promise to not try to disappear again.”

“You told them to follow me before I was even off the ice, didn’t you?”

“Sort of, but Cupid was going to anyway and if I hadn’t assigned someone, half the team would’ve tried. You’re lucky I gave the job to only two guys.”

Jack shakes his head, but he doesn’t argue. If he’s learned anything from this roadie, it’s that Kenny is right. Even if he’s the least favorite brother in this family, they’ll all fight for him anyway.

True to his word, Kent lets him slip away from the team to call Bitty at the airport.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” Bitty says as soon as the call connects.

“Sorry I didn’t call. I didn’t have my phone, and then I was late getting ready to leave,” Jack says.

“I know, sweetpea. Kent and your dad both texted me, but I wanted to hear your voice and tell you I love you.”

“I’m okay,” Jack tells him. “It sucks, but I’m okay.”

“You don’t have to pretend for me honey. I really would rather you didn’t actually,” Bitty says.

“I know. I know. And I wasn’t okay right away, but you know, I talked to my dad. And the guys are…they’re being really great.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to kill Matthews,” Bitty says. “I know Kent is attached to him.”

“I told you about yesterday,” Jack says but he smiles at Bitty’s threat anyway.

“I know, but I’m still keeping an eye on him.”

“Thanks Bits. I gotta go now. We’re boarding soon, and I promised Kenny that I’d tell Cenzar it’s not his fault that we lost.”

“Oh honey. That’s a good thing. Everyone looked so upset on TV. I love you. I’m picking you up at the airport.”

Jack tries to tell him that he can catch a ride, but there’s no point in arguing, so he gives up and tells Bitty that he loves him before hanging up.

He finds Cenzar sitting next to Hammer and Berry. Cenzar starts to say something, but Jack cuts him off.

“Don’t apologize,” Jack says. “No one thinks it’s your fault we lost. Especially me.”

“That one stupid shot,” Cenzar says instead of agreeing.

“And you stopped thirty-seven others we let get to you,” Jack says. “And twenty-four last time we played them and won. It’s not on you that we lost.”

“We win as a team and we lose as a team,” Cenzar says with an eye roll.

“At least we’re all so pissed about it that coach is probably going to do the whole ‘forget about it and move on’ thing instead of punishing us at practice,” Berry says.

“Thank fuck,” Hammer says as they get called to board the plane and the conversation ends there.

Jack takes his normal window seat on the plane and tries not to worry about who ends up in the seat next to him. He’s surprised when Cupid drops down next to him.

“I called dibs. Figured you’d want a break from…everyone, but I had to talk Parse and Tater into it, so it’ll be an easy switch if you want,” Cupid says. Jack relaxes tension he didn’t know he was carrying. The guys joke about his and Cupid’s friendship and their ability to hang out in silence, but this is exactly why it works. 

“No. Definitely stay,” Jack says as he pulls out his headphones. Cupid won’t care if he puts on music and ignores him the entire flight. He won’t feel like he has to say things to make Jack feel better, so Jack won’t have to find the energy to reassure anyone that he’s fine for at least a few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter ever. I probably should've cut it in half, but I just didn't want to. This is my favorite chapter, but it was also the hardest to edit. I may put extra notes up on my tumblr but I've failed at writing them twice so I wanted to go ahead and post the chapter. <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Jack**

The Aces have a full day off when they get back to Vegas. It’s a relief. Last year, the Falconers lost a lot of their off-days after losses, but the Aces coaches seem to know how much the team needs a break after losing to the Falconers.

Jack decides they should take advantage of how he almost never gets recognized to go out on a date. They’re not trying to stay in the closet anyway and two guys having a nice dinner together isn’t that suspect. Once someone tried to take pictures of him on a nice dinner and the pictures never even came out. Probably because they found out that the other person was his publicist.

Also, they haven’t spent enough time celebrating Bitty. The first two episodes of his show just came out on Hulu, and they went over well. Bitty says Hulu wanted to compete with some show on Netflix where guys makeover straight guys. Except on his show, they teach guys who can’t cook. Jack’s probably biased about how good it is, but they hired Bitty from his YouTube channel, so maybe he’s not. Bitty is obviously in charge of the desserts. Well, he’s one of the guys in charge of desserts. They have two teams and whoever has the most success with their guy wins. It’s weird. Jack has no idea where they come up with these ideas. But then, the Aces most popular YouTube video is a video of the Aces having a three-legged race. Clearly Jack doesn’t know anything about what people want to watch.

They’re just about to get to dessert when a little girl comes up to them. It’s not something that happens often in Vegas, though Kenny says it happens more often if they’re doing well. Still, they’re not the most famous people in the city. It’s frustrating, but Jack has never been able to turn away kids.

It doesn’t matter anyway, because the girl skips right over him and goes for Bitty.

“Are you Eric? From the show where you make the pies?” The girl asks. It’s adorable. Bitty looks surprised, but he signs a napkin and takes pictures with the girl.

“Good lord,” Bitty says after she leaves. “Is this really going to be happening?”

Jack laughs.

“You deserve it,” Jack says. It’s true.

“I’m not used to this,” Bitty says. “Was that weird for you? That it was me?”

“Less weird than when it’s me. I get why people love you. If I wasn’t already with you, I’d break my no celebrities rule for you. Kenny would never let me live it down.”

“Oh, stop it,” Bitty says laughing.

Two days later he gets called to Janet’s office. Kenny’s concern is obvious. Several of the guys chirp him about being in trouble.

“You’re not in trouble,” Janet says when she overhears one of the guys in the hallway. “We’re just keeping you informed. Someone posted pictures of you with Eric on tumblr. They were more interested in him than you, but of course it’s tumblr so someone identified you. We can do a few things. We can ignore it obviously. We get tagged in a million things, it’s easy to ignore this. We can acknowledge the obvious—that you were teammates at Samwell and obviously still friends. We can say something tongue and cheek that hints and tells them nothing solid.”

“Can I see it?” Jack asks, and Janet hands over her tablet.

Looking at the picture, Jack’s not sure how they could pass as friends. He looks completely in love with Bitty. He scrolls down to read over comments. He’s still confused about how tumblr makes sense to anyone.

> _Saw Eric Bittle eating tonight with this guy? Anyone know who this is? Friend? Boyfriend? Seriously seemed like a date._
>
>> _OMG Jack Zimmermann. They played hockey at Samwell University. Zimmermann plays for the Aces. They’re pretty public about being friends._
>>
>>> _Friends yes. But they also moved to Vegas at basically the same time. And Eric never mentions who his boyfriend is on his youtube, but he moved to Providence after college until he got the show. That’s a lot of coincidences._
>>>
>>>> _There are so many rumors that Zimmermann is gay. And that he and Kent Parson dated at one point. And we know Kent is gay._
>>>>
>>>>> _Zimmermann is not out, so people should stop this. Also, he went to Samwell. Of course, he has some gay friends. Can we just be happy that we know for sure he’s not a homophobe?_
>>>>>
>>>>>> _I get your point, but he’s sort of stopped denying it. It’s like this thing now where he just acts confused and all the other Aces just kind of avoid the question._

  
Jack hands her back the tablet.

“Go with the joke and the hint,” Jack says. Bitty’s already out and in the spotlight. He’s made it clear that Jack can play things how he wants. And well, he doesn’t like denying that he’s with Bitty. He’s too proud of Bitty for that.

Janet agrees and lets him go. Bitty texts him while he’s on his way to get his lunch.

 **Bitty:** LOL. Just saw the Aces tumblr post.  
**Jack:** I was just about to text you about it.  
**Bitty:** I have an Aces alert. That’s a cute picture even if it’s creepy.  <3  
**Jack:** You’re always cute.  
**Bitty:** Smooth with that one.  
**Jack:** Only to you. Need to go watch tape. Home tonight?  
**Bitty:** Yes, but maybe late. Problems with filming. :(  
**Jack:** I’ll make you dinner for once. Just keep me updated.  
**Bitty:** Okay. Love you!  
**Jack:** I love you too.

Of course, the guys already all know by the time he gets the room for tape review.

“When are you going to just come out?” Matty asks.

“When I figure out what day no one has in the pool,” Jack answers. Everyone laughs. Cupid gives him a fist bump.

***

 **Kenny:** Are you busy? If so, can you try not being busy?  
**Jack:** Why?  
**Kenny:** Mills and Cupid had a fight. Mills is coming to my house. Cupid texted me to see if I’d heard from Mills, but he’s harder to check on. Now he’s saying he doesn’t need anyone.  
**Jack:** Maybe he wants to be alone.  
**Kenny:** Or maybe the guys he’s closest too are me and Reaper and he wants us to take care of Mills. He’s like that. But now there’s you. You’re friends with him.  
**Jack:** What if he tells me he’s fine?  
**Kenny:** Mills just got here. He’s basically hysterical. Cupid’s not fine. Also Mills will feel better if you check on him.  
**Kenny:** He started trying to figure out if he should let me leave and go check on him. So I told him you were on it. They are ridiculous.  
**Jack:** Ok. I’ll try texting him.

Jack would really rather call for something like this, but Cupid hates phone calls and prefers texting. 

**Jack:** So Kenny texted me. He’s worried about you.  
**Cupid:** He’s the most over-bearing captain in the league. You can verify that, right?  
**Cupid:** What did he tell you?  
**Jack:** That you and Mills had a fight.  
**Cupid:** Yeah. Sort of.  
**Jack:** Want me to come over?  
**Cupid:** You don’t have to.  
**Jack:** I’ll leave you alone if you want, but I don’t mind. Also Kenny says Mills wants him to go if I don’t.  
**Cupid:** In that case, come over before he tries to send Reaper or Tater or half the damn team.  
**Jack:** Sure. On my way. Bitty is forcing pie on me for you. Probably more than you want.  
**Cupid:** I’ll take it. Besides once we work this out, Mills will be jealous my support teammate comes with pie and his doesn’t so he’ll just eat all of my pie eventually.

 **Jack:** He told me I can come over. Heading out now.  
**Kenny:** Good. Mills says thanks. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.  
**Kenny:** Already thinking I might have to text Jeff to see if he knows another word that means over-react that is less likely to make Mills defensive.

Cupid doesn’t look great when he opens the door and lets Jack in. His eyes are red, but he’s not crying. The apartment smells like something burned earlier in the day and all the windows are open. Cupid takes the containers Jack brought over and sorts through them before putting a slice of pie on a plate and taking it to the couch.

“I don’t even know how it turned into a thing,” Cupid says. “I really don’t. And I think it’ll be okay and we’ll talk after Parse calms him down. I mean, I don’t know. He’s never fought with me. But he’s argued with Reaper and Ty and gotten heated with guys on the team before. And Parse always helps. So, Parse will help, right?”

“Probably. He said that Mills wanted me to check on you like you wanted someone to be with him.”

Cupid nods and looks at his pie for a few moments.

“Do I push him too hard? With the cooking and stuff?” Cupid asks. “I thought he knew that I don’t care when he messes up and we order food. I don’t get mad. I know it’s hard for him. It’s not like there’s any rush.”

“He’s never seemed upset about it before,” Jack says because it’s true. The guys chirp Mills about it, but they all also try to help. And they all basically agree that Cupid will probably marry Mills even if he burns everything he ever makes.

“I don’t know why tonight was different,” Cupid says.

“You’ll talk and figure it out. Kenny will help,” Jack tells him. Three years ago, he wouldn’t have been so sure about that. Now, he’s starting to see why the younger guys on the team look up to Kent so much.

Cupid nods. He’s quiet so Jack turns on the TV. There’s an Aeros/Stars game on, so he puts it on to give them background noise.

 **Kenny:** Can you verify that Cupid definitely does not want to break up? I’m not really doubting this, but it will calm Mills down.

“Kent wants to be sure you definitely don’t want to break up,” Jack says.

“What? No. Of course not. Does he want to break up?” Cupid goes from depressed to distraught so fast that Jack grabs his shoulder as he answers.

“No! No. Sorry. He just wanted to make sure, so that he can tell Mills that to calm him down.” This why Jack stays out of things like this. He’s not good at it. He texts Kenny back the answer anyway.

“How could he think that?” Cupid says. “I love him so much. He has to know that. Everyone knows. Ninety percent of the chirps I get are about how whipped I am.”

“He’s upset. Kenny already said he thinks Mills is over-reacting.”

Cupid nods and shrugs.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jack asks.

“I just don’t know how it escalated like it did,” Cupid says, eyes still on the TV even though he doesn’t react when the Aeros score. “He came over and the plan was to order food anyway. But he brought stuff and said he wanted to cook. I wasn’t going to tell him no.”

Jack nods. Bitty’s been trying to help. He claims there’s progress and he’s seen worse. Worse is also Holster, so that’s not much, but still.

“I don’t know how the fire in the pan started, but it was a grease fire and he was going to put water on it, so I just pulled him away. I just didn’t want him to get hurt. I wasn’t trying to yell at him. And then I turned off the stove and put the lid on the pan. I wasn’t mad, but maybe he thought I was. I asked if he was okay, and he just lost it and said maybe he should just give up. He said he was never going to be good enough for me. Which is stupid. This isn’t like that. He’s already everything I could ever want. I thought he knew that.”

“He does,” Jack says. He knows that much. The more he knows them, the more it’s obvious that Cupid isn’t just wrapped around Mills’ finger. Mills is also just as wrapped around his. “We’re not exactly a group of guys who were taught to be happy with failure. He’s just upset.”

Cupid nods. He doesn’t call out Jack for clearly using things he’s heard from therapy.

They watch the game until Cupid’s phone lights up with a text. Cupid answers quickly.

“Parse is bringing him back. He wants to know if you can give him a ride back home because they’re taking Mills’ car.”

“Yeah. Sure,” Jack says.

“Thanks for coming over,” Cupid says.

“Yeah, any time. Seriously,” Jack says.

“You know Mills likes you, right? He just doesn’t want to push himself on you too much because you’re my only friend on the team that he didn’t make for me.”

“Besides him?” Jack points out. They’re dating, but he’s sure Mills says they’re still best friends too.

“Yeah, well, Parse basically made him be friends with me, so I can’t take credit for that one either,” Cupid says.

“Yeah, well, it goes both ways. I’m well aware that Parse ordered people to be nice to me. And he purposely pushed Berry on me.”

“They also like you because management traded Teller for only a draft pick to make extra cap space for you.”

Jack laughs. By the end of the second period of the game, Mills comes back in with Kent. He stands awkwardly until Cupid stands up and opens his arms. Kent smiles when Mills runs into him and Cupid wraps him up in a hug.

“So, if I leave, you guys are going to actually talk about this, right? Not just say sorry and pretend it never happened,” Kent says. Cupid nods. Mills pulls back and wipes his face before turning around.

“Yes. I told you I would,” Mills says and rolls his eyes.

“Just verifying with Cupid, kid,” Kenny says. “I’m not mad at him, but I don’t want you showing up at my house crying because you didn’t talk, and the same thing keeps happening.”

“I know, I know.” Mills says, but he moves away from Cupid to hug Kent and mumble thanks into his chest. Then to Jack’s surprise, Mills hugs him too.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Zimms,” Mills says.

“Yeah, me too,” Jack says and realizes as he says it that he means it.

***

The Aces “Dad’s Trip” is in late February. It’s one of the latest ones in the season. The Falconers always had their trip in the fall. Jack is grateful though. He’s seen his dad plenty of times this season anyway, but Bob was always careful to keep some distance from the team. He did that the first year on the Falconers because he was worried about drawing attention away from Jack. This time, Jack knows he was more worried that Jack would hide behind him instead of bonding with his new team.

But by February, they’ve made it through both Falconers games and three of the four Schooners games. Matty is still calling him Zimmermann instead of Zimms, but it’s more of a chirp than a slight. When Tater missed four games from a concussion, they all worried about Tater, but Jack had switched to rooming with Cupid for the three away games Tater missed without any issues.

Management announces the “Dads and Mentors” trip and no one even asks about Bob at first. It takes a few minutes for Jack to realize why. Jeff has played Kent’s “dad” on most of the trips because Bob didn’t go. Jack knows Corey Davis came Kent’s third and fourth year. They might’ve forgiven Jack, but there’s a reason that Matty has avoided Bob at every game he’s attended.

“Is it going to be a problem if my Dad comes on this trip?” Jack asks Matty after practice. He thought about asking Kent, but Kent will say of course it’s fine.

“He’s your dad,” Matty says. “He’s already been to six games this year. I assumed he was coming.”

“He doesn’t have to,” Jack says. He’s sure his dad will understand. Matty sighs and shakes his head.

“Look. He’s never going to be my favorite person. I’m sure Swoops and Reaper will say the same thing. But we get it. You were his kid. And even if you’d both been his kids, you nearly died. You did die for a few seconds. Parse was fucked up, but you weren’t even home for weeks after he got here. Parse was physically healthy and in a safe place. You were in the hospital and then whatever facility they hid you in. And probably significantly more fucked up for a while. None of us liked that he made the choices he did, but we all understood it. Even Parse.”

Jack nods. That’s one thing he does like about Matty. Matty never acts like he can’t handle things or tries to sugarcoat anything like he’s going to break.

“If you want to bring him, no one on the team has a problem. But Swoops is coming for Parse and Reaper is coming for Mills. They’ve decided they like you, so they’re fine with you bringing him, but he’ll have to be tough enough to put up with their shit when you’re not around.”

***

“ _Son, if it’s going to make things hard for you, you can invite whoever you want. But if you want me there, nothing is going to keep me from going. Those guys aren’t going to say anything to me that they haven’t said five times already._ ”

“ _Papa_ ,” Jack says.

“ _You could invite your mother. They wouldn’t know what to do with her._ ”

Jack laughs. His dad is right, and he wouldn’t be the only one. Cupid’s bringing his mom at least, and Jack knows it’s the second time. Still sometimes, he wants his dad.

“ _No, I want you to come Papa. Kenny wants you to come, too _,” Jack says.__

__“ _Then there’s no where else I’d rather be._ ”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many notes on this one as you will notice that there is no longer a question mark up there and the end is both sooner and further away that you probably expected.
> 
> Why are there only nine chapters?  
> Well, Jack is not Kent and try as I might, he is just not as up in his friends business. Berry was supposed to have a whole story line that Jack is involved in. He still does and Jack is still involved. But since Jack doesn't really define himself by his relationships as much, it's just didn't fit into this story. It is going to be a spin-off instead. No, it's not going to be hosted elsewhere. For reasons I will explain when we get there, I decided this spin-off will go on Ao3.
> 
> There are also a lot of extra scenes from A Place to Go that will get posted on Gimme More. So basically if I had smashed Berry's story and all the extras here, it would be 25 chapters that didn't quite feel right. For example, there's no mention of Kyrstle getting pregnant in here and you guys know how sad that would make Kent. (And my beta who is due soon.)
> 
> That said, there will be a delay before chapter 9. A Place to Go takes place during the 2018-2019 season. Which means it is in the future. Chapter 9 mentions some real players. I tried to stick with players that really seemed unlikely to switch teams. 3 have either switched teams over the summer or had to be written differently because of other trades and signings. Last off-season, I mostly focused on really learning how prospects and younger players joined teams because I was editing other stories. This summer, I've learned so much about older players. (Thanks one of the 3 guys I use to write Jack for making this fic seem more realistic, but also ugh you fucked up chapter 9 a bit.) Anyway, I want to wait a couple more weeks to check the hockey in chapter 9. It's actually kind of hilarious to me that I wrote so much hockey in chapter 9 because when I wrote it was shortly before last year's playoffs, and it wasn't really hard to write. Way back when I first started this, the playoffs in American Dream are largely hand waved because I didn't know enough to write them any other way. Anyway, while we are waiting for Chapter 9, I'll try to get a lot of those Gimme More chapters out so you don't feel like you're going without fic.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes mentions of real teams and players. I'll talk more about why I picked the teams I did in the end, but I wanted to note here that it's a thing. I'll list the teams at the end in case anyone cares. That said, while I mentioned how these teams/players played as they played the Aces, I tried to not give them any lines or personalities outside their public media personalities. I didn't want anyone to feel like this suddenly became RPF without warning. But honestly, I just couldn't handle making up 4 new teams and I had reasons to not want to use the Schooners or the Aeros.

The Aces clinched the playoffs at the end of March, but they’re still fighting to get a home advantage.

The Falconers lose all hope of getting to the playoffs after losing to the Aeros. Jack’s been in the group chat that’s less of an Aces chat and really just a chat of Aces or former Aces that Cupid and Mills are out to since November. It’s worse than the Samwell group chat. Hooks lights up it up to say they won that game for Jack, even though he’s only ever met Jack on the ice. Apparently Aces loyalty stretches pretty far. George sends Jack a happy face. The Aces twitter account actually tweets hearts at the Aeros, and the Aeros account sends kissing emojis back.

What’s even better is that the last time they beat the Schooners also knocks the Schooners out of playoff contention. Jack’s sure that Kenny says something obnoxious toward the end to piss off Curren and draw a penalty they don’t even need, but Jack pushes Curren off him anyway. Some things are still the same as juniors.

Unfortunately, securing home advantage going into the playoffs ends up being harder than expected. It comes down to the last regular season game in the last few minutes. They need both points and Kenny sends the puck to Jack in a perfect pass just as one of the Flames crashes into Tater and Tater crashes into the Flames’ goalie. Jack makes himself wait. He waits until Tater gets up. He waits until it’s clear that Smith isn’t hurt, and he’s on his skates in the goal. Jack shoots the puck into the net and scores. They celly, but the Flames still challenge the goal. Of course, they do. Why not? No one knows what the fuck goalie interference is anyway.

They rule that there was goalie interference and the Vegas crowd explodes so loudly in protest that it drowns out Coach Day’s reaction. That’s probably a good thing. They lose in overtime and the one point they get doesn’t matter at all.

Jack wants to break his stick. He wants to throw a fit about how every time it comes down to luck, he doesn’t seem to get it. But he looks at Kenny. Kenny goes straight to press and answers questions with a calm that shows how long he’s captained this team. Those five years of NHL experience that he has over Jack suddenly feel so obvious. The media has been talking about how soon Jack’s going to get an A, even though no one has gotten an A in less than two years since Coach Day took over the team. After how he acted in Providence, Jack doesn’t see how anyone thinks he should take it away from Becker even though media likes to talk about it. Hell, they should give it to Mills before him. Jack’s been getting pulled out of press just as often as all of the rookies after bad games. Coach Day looks between him and Cupid, clearly trying to decide who he trusts with the press and Jack gives him a nod. He can do this. He can be in control. After all, he has all of the playoffs to prove himself.

***

Kent looks at everyone before the first play-off game and instead of giving an inspirational speech, he just says, “So, we’re going to win the Cup this year. I don’t care how we do it. We’re doing it. I don’t want to hear anything else. We’re going to bring home the Cup if we have to literally pry it out of Sidney Crosby’s hands. I’m going to put my niece in the Cup this summer. Cool? Cool.”

And then he starts out of the locker room like the diva he is.

“He knows it doesn’t actually work that way, right?” Berry says.

“He really doesn’t,” Matty says. “The first year, when we almost lost the Conference finals, he literally just spent the last four games yelling ‘fight harder’ in our faces until we won just to get him to leave us alone. I don’t know where he got that idea, but you don’t want him to do that again.”

Jack laughs because he can’t help it. He knew it had been said because the media had picked up on it, but he didn’t know how extreme it was. Matty looks at him and groans.

“We’re going to have two guys yelling that at us if we start losing, aren’t we?”

“It worked for the Memorial Cup,” Jack says. “And Kenny said that _I_ was crazy that time. Obviously, he was wrong.”

Matty rolls his eyes and looks at Berry.

“We’re just going to have to win. That shit is literally going to be twice as annoying.”

***

Beating the Ducks in the first round is annoying more than anything. Kenny draws two penalties from Getzlaf in the first game by just speaking and showing his real personality instead of his Captain of the Aces personality. Jack almost wonders if Kenny just _wants_ to see Tater kick Getzlaf’s ass, but he can’t argue for Kenny to shut up when they score on both power plays. Someone must’ve talked to Getzlaf after the first game, because he still glares at everything Kenny says but he doesn’t react. However, it still turns out that Jack should have calmed down about getting the home advantage because they only need five games to win the series.

The next round, they win in only four games, but every single game is hard fought. It’s even rougher because apparently the Aces’ rookies have friends on the Sharks. That disappears when they’re on the ice, but Jack can tell it wears on Berry to be the cause of one of his friends getting knocked out of the playoffs. He’s glad that the Falconers and Aces never got to the point of fighting each other for the Cup.

Before the conference finals against the Avalanche, Kenny stands up with a serious look on his face like he’s going to give a real speech instead of just declaring that they’re going to win.

“Guys, I think we all know why we have to win this one,” Kent says and pauses to look around the room dramatically. “For some reason, people think Colorado is the most attractive team in the league. Like have they looked at me? I’m personally offended. I’m the hottest captain in the NHL, obviously. Do they have Cupid on their team? Are their rookies as cute as Berry over there? And Zimms is okay looking, I guess. It’s a disgrace. I know beauty pageants are idiotic, but that doesn’t mean we are going to lose one. Oh, and, also, we’re going to win the fucking Stanley Cup this year.”

Several players throw things at him. Coach Day looks like he regrets keeping his job for so long. Of course, Kenny gets serious once they get on the ice. His version of serious involves chirping Landeskog about how the Aces definitely have a hotter captain, but it seems to go both ways. Jack’s pretty sure at some point, he hears Kenny says something about how Britney likes him better. The Avs’ and the Aces’ social media teams get wind of this and Jack just stops checking his social media feed completely. Somehow, after the Aces win in six exhausting games that aren’t anywhere near as fun as their social media teams made them look, the Avs are good sports. Whatever Landy says to Kent when they shake hands makes Kent laugh.

Because the Aces finished first, they get a full week off before the Stanley Cup finals. The Aces spend that time much differently than the Falconers did when they went to the finals. They get two full days of rest that they’re ordered to spend with their friends and families. Jack spends most of that time with Bitty because Kent tells Bitty that he doesn’t even want Jack watching tape.

 **Jack:** This is insane.  
**Kenny:** This is what we always do. Take time to rest. Though we only got 1 day to rest one time because of how it worked out.  
**Jack:** We could at least be watching tape.  
**Kenny:** We’re allowed to watch the eastern final and that’s it. We’re watching it at Davy’s house tomorrow. We’ll get back to work the next day.  
**Jack:** Why are we watching it at his house?  
**Kenny:** Because that’s what I’ve done every time I’ve won, and we aren’t changing it.  
**Jack:** Fair. But this is making me crazy.  
**Jack:** Did you seriously just text Bitty and ask him to try to have sex with me?  
**Kenny:** That was Tater. Because you’re cockblocking him and he wants me to stop being the captain for the rest of the night.

Bitty takes his phone away, climbs on top of him and says he’s going to eat Jack out and then fuck him until he stops thinking about hockey. Jack’s never been able to turn that offer down.

Watching the seventh game of the Eastern finals is interesting. None of the players on the Leafs or the Capitals have ever played for the Aces. This means that none of the guys who played Kenny’s first or fourth year are busy and apparently, they also don’t have lives. Almost every player who played for the Aces when they won the Cup with Kenny shows up at Davy’s house. Even Jared Hoppe, who only played with Kenny the first year and only got ice time in three games in the playoffs shows up and bitches about not getting an invite to Kenny’s wedding. It’s clearly not the first time this conversation has happened. Marty, Thirdy, Snowy and Poots show up because Tater told them to.

“Is this really at Davy’s house because of superstition or is it because you just don’t want to clean up after 300 people come to your house?” Jack asks.

“We have practice tomorrow,” Kent says.

“Does Davy know that’s why you make him host it?”

“Davy loves me. Also, this is not close to as bad as the party Brooke made him throw for her birthday.”

“Your only comparison is his daughter’s sweet sixteen.”

“This is your life now,” Kent says. “Get over it. You have to play here forever or attend this party every time the Aces go to the finals.”

“Only if we win.”

“We’re winning,” Kent says.

“You’re going to jinx us.”

“It’s not a prediction,” Kent says.

“It’s an order?” Jack says laughing as every current or former Ace nearby says _It’s an order_ with a groan.

“In his defense,” Reaper says, “he didn’t do this thing where he just ordered us to win the one time we made it all the way to the finals and lost.”

Jack waits until the guys are distracted by the game before he brings up the topic again.

“That year you lost in the finals,” Jack says.

“I didn’t want to think about you. The fourth year, things were just, I don’t know. Your dad told me you said good luck, but not to text you and I guess that was enough. The next year. I know we’d apologized but…”

“I’d told you that I didn’t want to sign with the Aces and that I never loved you,” Jack finishes. “So, you didn’t want to use my thing.”

“I was really shitty to you, too. Also, I shouldn’t have shown up _again_ without asking. It was a long time ago.”

“So we’re going to win this one together,” Jack says.

“Fucking finally.”

***

The finals in Vegas are a ridiculous spectacle that Jack tries to avoid. Parse loves it, so he goes through the front with Tater and Mills while Jack sneaks in the back with Cupid. He can handle press, but he doesn’t need to go through all the fanfare before the games. He expects some bad press over skipping it, but apparently the fans actually accept that it’s what he needs to do to concentrate.

The Leafs win the first two games. It’s a fight. They make it to overtime. And then second overtime. The Leafs just seem to have more stamina once they get to overtime and the Aces fall apart. The third game, Kenny takes a hit hard enough that they make him go back to the dressing room. That leaves a hole in their first line that Coach tosses Berry into. It’s a crazy jump from the fourth to the first line. With any game in the regular season or maybe just a different team, it would be Mills. Mills plays so well on Jack’s wing. But Mills has been matching up with Marner so far and even if they seem to just cancel each other out, Mills is at least keeping up with him, so they can’t move him, and Berry plays better with Jack than Becker.

“Hey,” Jack says. “You got this. You know how to play with me. We’re going to win this.”

Berry nods. It’s not perfect. Jack’s spent extra practice time with him, but Berry hasn’t played as much with Matty. Berry’s good but he’s not Kenny or Mills. But it’s enough that when he gets the puck, he at least holds it and gets it back to Jack. Matty’s waiting at the net like he always is and tips it in on the rebound after Andersen blocks Jack’s shot.

Kenny hugs them all for that when they get back to the locker room after the second period ends. He’s coming back for the third. The Leafs still have the lead, but it’s a 3-1 lead now.

“We’re not going to overtime,” Kent says. “They’re fucking killing us at overtime. They want this. But we fucking want it more. We’re getting three more goals and we’re getting them before the end of the period. Or next game, I’m letting Zimms be in charge of yelling at everyone to fight harder. And no one fucking wants that okay? He’s fucking insane. So we’re going to win this _now_.”

Kent looks at Jack and yeah, that’s more of a threat to both of them than it is to anyone else on the team. Jack doesn’t want to yell at Kent, but he will if it comes down to it probably. So yeah, they have to come back and win.

They get three more goals. Cenzar stops every shot the Leafs throw at them. They’re still in it.

The fourth game, Britney sings before the game and then comes back to sing the anthems. Kenny says they absolutely have to win for her, even though she’s been present for every home game. There’s no way they can lose and make starting a game with a Britney Spears concert bad luck. Jack decides that there is something to the stupid amount of rest Coach Day forces on them before the finals. It’s like the Leafs start the game with no energy and never find it. Matthews gets one goal after they pull their goalie, but it’s too little, too late.

The fifth game, they’re back in Toronto and it’s like the Leafs decided to fuck with the Aces by throwing all their lines in a blender. Jack’s still paired with Matthews and Matty is matched with Marleau most of the time, but everything else is completely unpredictable. Do they even have lines? Kenny seems to have a different match up every five minutes, like they’re giving every guy who can play wing a chance at him. This makes it harder to find Kenny when he wants him and it’s frustrating as fuck. Jack is used to playing with Matty, but he doesn’t just feel him the way he does with Kent. The whole game is like when people beat a computer at chess by making moves that just don’t make any logical sense. How is a guy that is usually on the third line so fast? Why is Berry trying to match Nylander because he’s on the fourth line? Jack thinks Berry does a decent job and the practice in the last game probably helps. But Jack can tell Kenny’s brain is scrambled.

“How the fuck do you know when to go on the ice?” Kenny yells to whoever is with him at one point while Jack is lining up for the face off.

“I swear they have one guy who is switching between left and right wing,” Kenny says in between the second and third period. “And I don’t even know who it is.”

They end up in overtime. The Leafs win in the second overtime. Of course, they do.

They watch tape on the plane. They watch tape the next day instead of practicing because the coaches say they’d rather have them fully rested. Kenny, Berry, Mills and Becker all come over to Jack’s house and watch tape together while Bitty feeds them.

And then Toronto goes back to their regular lines for the sixth game. No one scores the entire first period. Kapanen scores the second period. Kent scores a minute later. Five minutes later, Matthews scores. Jack scores because he is sick of this shit about how they should be playing first picks against each other and that doesn’t include Jack.

“We are not fucking going to overtime,” Jack says between periods before Kent even has a chance. “I don’t fucking care how we do it. I don’t care where the fuck we have to pull from, fucking fight harder. I will fight everyone on that team if I have to.”

“He actually gets worse than this, so if we could win this game, that would be great,” Kent says.

Somehow the Leafs screw up their line change and Jack ends up fighting Kadri. It’s not like he never claimed not to be his father’s son. He looks at Cenzar as he skates to the box. The Leafs have a good power play. They went back and forth with the Aces as the top power play in the league all year. But he’s also sure Cenzar has spent more time studying all of them than everyone else on the Aces combined. Cenzar’s a brick wall for the next five minutes. Jack is going to buy him a Lamborghini.

“You’re getting a goal next time we go out,” Jack tells Kent when there are less than four minutes left. “Just fucking get away from everyone, and I’ll get it to you.”

Kenny nods. He’s fast. He literally decided not to try to get out of the All-Star game a year ago because he was pissed that McDavid got voted fastest in the league in the players’ survey. Everyone thought he wanted to go because Jack was going or because he’d just come out and he had something to prove. Jack knew that he was literally traveling to an event instead of taking a break with his husband just so that he could beat McDavid in a dumb race that meant nothing.

Jack doesn’t even keep an eye on him. Kenny will get where he needs to be. Jack needs to get space to pass to him. Jack wins the face-off and sends it to Matty. He sends it back to Jack as soon as Jack has space. Kenny is exactly where he’s supposed to be and he’s all by himself. His shot gets past Andersen.

The Leafs pull Andersen. The Aces send out their second line because Kenny is winded like he literally gave everything he had to that play. Their second line holds the Leafs back. And they’re all going back to Toronto for game seven.

They watch tape on the plane. They watch tape in the hotel. Kent is determined to be prepared to go up against the entire Leafs team.

Apparently, Nylander is a center now because why the fuck not? To be fair, Jack knows he was a center at some point in his career, but it’s the game to win the Cup, so it seems like a weird thing to do. Of course, scrambling the Aces’ brains did work for them once already. But by the second period Nylander is a wing again, they’re tied with one apiece, and Berry has his first playoff goal.

“Stop worrying about what I’m doing,” Kenny says in the third period. “Let me worry about who they play. They’re not changing up Matthews. Just assume I’m going to be where you know I should be. I know I don’t have to tell you to shoot it when you can.”

Coach Day is talking to Mills. It makes sense. If they’re underestimating anyone on this team, it’s Mills. He’s good, but he’s always played with guys like Kent and Reaper and Jack who beat him out of the top spots. Jack personally thinks he’s better than Matty, but Coach doesn’t like to crowd all the best guys on the first line and he’s already got Jack and Kent together.

Kent is right. He’s always where Jack thinks he should be when Jack needs him. But Anderson is always where Kent puts the puck.

Jack is still jumping the boards when Mills switches with Kent, gets the puck from Cupid and breaks away from everyone. He fakes a shot that is an exact copy of the shot Kent made to win the Cup the second time. It goes in. There are over ten minutes left, but they hold it down. Kent jumps on Jack and everything goes crazy as soon as the clock runs out. Tater jumps on both of them for a few seconds before he pulls Kenny away, knocks his helmet out of the way and kisses him. No one even bothers to chirp them because it’s quickly just a mob of guys all jumping on each other. It’s a few minutes before they calm down enough for the handshake line. Kent pushes Jack in front to lead it. Jack looks at Matty and Matty signals for him to go ahead.

“We all know this one was for you,” Matty says. “It’s fine. Parse said the last one was for me. I’m still one up on you.”

Jack laughs.

When the Cup is brought out, Kent makes Becker take it first. He gives it to Matty who passes it to Jack. Kent doesn’t seem like he’s in too much of a hurry to get it, so Jack gives it to Mills since he got the game winner and it’s his first cup. Somehow Kent manages to be the very last guy on the team to do a lap with the Cup.

“This means I can just keep it, right?” Kenny says when he comes back over to Jack. Jack laughs. Kent would have a reason to take it last. Kent yells at the photographer to get her to come over.

“Take a fucking picture with me,” Kent says. “We waited too many fucking years for this.”

Jack rolls his eyes, but he poses for the picture as their friends and family start flooding the ice. He leaves Kent and Tater holding the Cup and kissing when he hears Bitty yelling his name. Bitty jumps into his arms and lets Jack spin him around. Jack holds him as they both repeat nonsense excited words about the win.

“I wish I could kiss you,” Jack says. Bitty pulls back to look at him.

“Then kiss me,” Bitty says.

Jack looks at him and can’t find a reason not to kiss him. They came all the way over here because the Aces said they didn’t care if he was in the closet or not. And they won the Cup with six queer players on the team. Jack kisses him.

“Of course, Parse won the fucking pool,” Hammer says behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I first started writing this series, I had to watch a lot of hockey to figure out how to write it. I also do a ton of research to figure out how much free time these guys have and watch lots of their media. The Vegas Golden Knights didn't even exist when I started this series so I definitely didn't use them. I also don't use my actual favorite team because I have personal reasons for my favorite team and I like to leave them out of this.
> 
> All my characters are not based on actual players in life or personality. (obviously Check Please characters are developed from Ngozi's.) But going in, I just had to pick random players based on skill and body type to even figure out how to write any hockey sections. I tried to use more than one player for each of my guys. Other teams I watched on social media because their media fit my needs or certain players post so much on social media that it gives me an idea of how a NHL player's schedule is. Without being specific about players, the original teams I watched a lot of for hockey research purposes were: Leafs, Avalanche, Islanders, Stars, Capitals, Bruins, Kings, Oilers, Sabres, Sharks and Hurricanes. (Yes, I got an NHL subscription so I could watch them play each other while I write because no one has time to watch this much hockey. I watch a lot in the off-season also.) Oddly, trades have meant that I kind of don't have to watch the Islanders or Hurricanes now. (I'm sorry? Especially to to the the Islanders. I swear I wrote this fic before that happened.) I don't have strong feelings negative feelings about any of these teams, so I'm sorry if I made your team lose, but it's because I at least kind of like them if I wrote about them.
> 
> Anyway, I picked the playoff teams using teams I understood enough that would also work in a bracket. The only TEAM I changed from the original writing was the very first one. The Sharks was originally the Kings, but the Kings player I was referencing got sent back to Juniors. I tried to stick to players that I didn't think would move but I did have to rewrite pieces of this after the season started.
> 
> And then I delayed it because I had one player I'd name dropped who was not signed. And I figured he'd sign soon so I could wait. And then I'd waited so long that surely it would happen soon and I should just wait it out. Then I actually wrote him out. Then I got so busy that I couldn't get things edited. So I wrote him back in last Sunday. Anyway, that is my super long explanation as to why this chapter took so damn long. I'm sorry. There will be another break before the next big AO3 fic because I want a big head start on it, but there are some Gimme More fics that had to wait for this chapter. There are also two more spin offs written. You can find the link to those at Reapers twitter: http://www.twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33  
> The link for extra fic is his website link.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a bit more of an Aces fic and friendship fic like American Dream than a ship-specific fic, and in many ways it's more about Jack right now than Kent. But well, this effects Kent a lot. That said, because I wanted this to have a consistent focus, that doesn't mean there will really be less shippy scenes. Power of fan fiction? I can still get those deleted scenes posted! Also, there's still lots of Kent and Kent POV, just you know, he and Tater are pretty stable and all.
> 
> This fic is probably the most personal thing I've actually written. It's still not a real self-insert, but a lot of the inspiration was much more current than my inspiration usually is. (For example, I'd been super stable BPD-wise for about 5 years when I wrote American Dream. Some of this I wrote within days of the events that inspired it and some of it was even written before I had the results of things that inspired it.) My betas have said this didn't make it a disaster or anything though. If you want to know more info on the inspiration, I'll stick it over on my tumblr ( lostinaimage ).
> 
> For Info on the Cupid/Mills fic click the link on Reaper’s Twitter:  
> http://www.twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33


End file.
